Thursday, May 25, 2006

DELAND, Fla. – Brian Pruitt delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th inning to carry Stetson past Mercer 6-5 to advance in the winner’s bracket as the only unbeaten team remaining in the A-Sun Championship presented by Progress Energy.

Stetson head coach Pete Dunn earned his 1000th career win to become the 34th coach in NCAA history to reach the plateau.

In the first extra inning A-Sun Championship game since 2001, the Hatters loaded the bases in the final inning with standout Chris Johnson at the plate, but Andrew Urena induced a ground ball to short that resulted in a force out at the plate. However, Pruitt drilled a fastball safely in the outfield to put Stetson in an advantageous situation as the only undefeated team left in the tourney.

Both starting pitchers showed nerves in the first inning. Mercer jumped on Stetson southpaw Nathan Nery, scoring two runs on three hits with Josh Thompson capping the scoring with an RBI single. The Hatters responded in their half of the inning with three runs to grab an early advantage. Four of Stetson’s first five batters collected hits, highlighted by Brian Pruitt’s RBI base knock to left field. A cushion was added in the fourth as Stetson took advantage of a Mercer error to plate a pair of runs, extending their lead to three runs. Nery settled down to give the Hatters a strong outing, tossing 6.0 innings including five consecutive scoreless before being relieved in the top of the seventh inning. Mercer rallied against the Stetson bullpen with three runs in the top of the seventh inning to provide new life with the game-tying run coming off a throwing error by Brian Bocock. The Bears appeared to be on their way to taking a lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Stetson’s Shane Jordan made a sprawling two-out catch in shallow centerfield to rob Sean McCahill of a base hit with a runner on second.

The league’s top two closer dueled in the late innings as Robbie Elsemiller and Andrew Urena kept both offenses in check. Making his second appearance in as many nights, Stetson’s Elsemiller (7-3) hurled a career-high 4.1 scoreless innings to earn his second win of the championship. Urena (4-2) held Stetson scoreless until the decisive bottom of the 11th inning, surrendering just one run in 3.2 innings of relief on his way to the loss.

Stetson improved to 5-2 all-time in tournament extra inning games including four straight wins while Mercer evened their record at 1-1. The Hatters are trying to become the first repeat champion at the A-Sun Tournament since 2001.

Day three begins with the top two seeds squaring off in an elimination game between Jacksonville and Mercer. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 am.