Date Posted: 5/26/2006

DELAND, Fla. – The nation’s most competitive postseason tournament continued as Stetson defeated Mercer for the second time in as many days, advancing to Championship Saturday with a 5-4 victory in the A-Sun Championship presented by Progress Energy on Friday night. Six of the championship’s nine games have been decided by one run.

The Hatters have reached the final day without a loss and face ETSU meaning the Bucs would have to defeat Stetson twice to win their first A-Sun Tournament title.

Stetson (37-22) opened the scoring in the top of the first after Shane Jordan led off the game with a single and later reach home on Chris Johnson’s RBI fielder’s choice. The Bears (34-26) answered in the bottom of the second when Jason Lowey’s sacrifice fly plated Mike Armstrong. However, a single run in the third inning vaulted Stetson back into the lead, giving the Hatters’ hurlers all the offense they would need. Jake Hitchcock relieved starter Brett Murphy and tossed 4.2 innings to run his record to a perfect 5-0. Robbie Elsemiller survived a Mercer rally to close the door in the ninth inning. The trio would combine to strand 11 Mercer runners on base.

The top third of Stetson’s order went 6-for-13 with four runs as Shane Jordan, Brandon Paritz and Braedyn Pruitt each picked up two hits. Elsemiller made his third straight appearance in the championship improving to 2-0 with one save in 6.1 innings. Starter Josh Young (2-4) took the loss for Mercer after surrendering three runs over 6.0 innings of work while Josh Thompson finished 3-for-5 to pace the Mercer hitters.

The Hatters have six consecutive A-Sun Championship games and have an opportunity to become the first team to successfully defend their tournament title since 2002. Stetson reaches Championship Saturday with an undefeated record, having won all three previous contests in the championship. Florida Atlantic was the last undefeated champion, winning four straight games to capture the 2004 crown. The last time a No. 3 seed reached the championship game was FAU in 2004 and the Owls went on to claim the crown with a 21-2 win over Troy.

Stetson will face ETSU at 1:00 pm on Saturday as the tournament heads into its final day.

Related Links:
 • A-Sun Championship presented by Progress Energy