DELAND — Volusia County's pair of Division I baseball programs had to go through one another Tuesday, beginning the final push toward their respective conference tournaments.
Stetson jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Brandon Hylton's towering three-run homer, but Bethune-Cookman chipped away at the lead and eventually took one of its own. Deadlocked into the bottom half of the eighth, the Hatters' Kyle Jones drew a four-pitch, go-ahead walk to bring home the decisive run in an 8-7 victory.
Stetson salvaged a season split with their cross-county neighbors; B-CU won by an identical score back on April 16 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
That leaves just seven games on the schedule for both ballclubs. Here is a detailed look at how the Hatters and the Wildcats are shaping up ahead of their win-or-go-home tournaments at the end of the month.
College baseball: Bethune-Cookman, Stetson handle the Portal Era in their own ways
Stetson (31-18, 15-9 ASUN)
Considering the ASUN has just one team (Kennesaw State) ranked in the NCAA's top 100 in RPI, it's likely the conference will again send only its tournament champion to regionals as an automatic qualifier. Stetson will host the tournament for the second year in a row and is in strong position to secure a top-four seed and avoid the more treacherous round-robin format for Nos. 5 through 8.
The Hatters dropped two of three at home last weekend, conceding first place in the ASUN standings to visiting Austin Peay. Despite currently being locked in a three-way tie for third place, Stetson would occupy the No. 2 seed with RPI being used to seed the league's top eight teams.
Stetson's final two league series are against sub-.500 opponents — Queens on the road and Central Arkansas at home. In between, the Hatters will host Florida State, currently ranked No. 8 in the D1Baseball.com's national poll.
"This league, even some of the teams at the bottom, they've got some good pitchers. It's been very hard this year to sweep a team," Hatters coach Steve Trimper said. "You've got to keep focus on all the games because you never know when you can get bit.
"Good teams, down the stretch, focus on the innings being played — not on the tournament or the next week. There are times of the year where we've played with unbelievable confidence. Not that we're not playing with confidence right now, but we've got to get our mojo where all eight cylinders are firing."
True freshmen Jones and Logan Hughes have been huge additions to the Hatters' everyday lineup. Jones leads the squad in batting average (.357), doubles (12), runs scored (41) and stolen bases (21), and Hughes holds the top slugging mark (.545) with eight doubles and six home runs.
Yohann Dessureault swung a sizzling hot bat throughout April with 23 hits in 61 at-bats, upping his team-leading home run total to nine in the process.
"Yohann's been a hitter where, if you throw him a strike, he pounces," Trimper said. "A lot of teams pitch around him, and he's gotten himself out. He was more disciplined in April, taking more walks and getting into hitters' counts.
"When he's disciplined, he's lethal. He's a pro player because of his bat."
As for the pitching staff, Stetson has a 5.13 team ERA, the top mark in the ASUN — and more than a half-run better than what it produced last year (5.75). Hatters pitchers have served up 63 home runs, but limited opponents to a .260 overall batting average.
Friday night starter Anthony DeFabbia is 7-1 with a 4.78 ERA, while Daniel Paret — who missed the better part of two years recovering from a torn labrum in his left shoulder — has picked up five wins and tossed a team-high 58 innings.
Aric McAtee, Dylan Jacobs and John Modugno split the third weekend starter roles, and both Zane Coppersmith (1.13 ERA, three saves, 28 Ks in 24 innings) and Cole Stallings (3.09 ERA, nine saves, 35 Ks in 32 innings) have shined in high-leverage spots out of the bullpen.
Bethune-Cookman (27-22, 17-7 SWAC)
Bethune-Cookman rebounded from a Friday night shutout to pick up its second series this spring against rival Florida A&M, moving to within one game of the Rattlers for first place in the SWAC's East division. The Wildcats have the top overall win total among SWAC teams, and rank third among league teams in RPI at No. 238 nationally.
Tanner Boccabello, a key addition out of the junior college ranks, is 10th across Division I in ERA with a sparkling mark of 2.21. The 6-foot, 190-pound junior has lasted at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts, highlighted by a six-hit, complete-game shutout of FAMU back on March 22.
"It was very hard for us to replace a guy like Nolan Santos, who was drafted in the seventh round. Those are some big shoes to fill," Wildcats coach Jonathan Hernandez said. "Bocca's embraced that role. He's a team guy who wants to compete. Very rarely will he let me take him out of games because he just wants to be able to give his all for the team.
"He's more of a pitch-to-contact guy, not a high-strikeout guy. But he's going to give you everything he has for seven, eight innings."
SWAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Daniel Gaviria (5-3, 4.81 ERA) and Marcos Gamboa (3-3, 4.89) round out a steady, consistent B-CU weekend rotation. Pablo Torres has picked up five saves, sporting a 3.27 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 22 innings.
Bethune-Cookman weaponizes its team speed, sitting fourth in the nation with 134 stolen bases. Daniel Figueroa paces the team with 27, followed by Sergio Rivera (23), Garrett Chun (15) and Colton Olasin (13).
Jose Gonzalez continues to deliver in the heart of the B-CU order, as expected upon his arrival from Ave Maria with a team-high .360 average, 16 extra-base hits and 43 RBIs. Manny Souffrain is an on-base machine, drawing 45 walks and providing his fair share of pop with four homers and 32 RBIs.
"You don't change who you are. Our identity is our identity, whether it's the regular season or the tournament," Hernandez said. "Everyone's 0-0, anything can happen and you throw your records out the window. But if we continue to play our brand of baseball, continue to pitch very well and defend well, then I think we have a pretty good shot at this."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Stetson, Bethune-Cookman split regular season baseball series ahead of stretch run
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