FIRST PITCH
Score: Stetson 11 | Queens 4
Records: Stetson (25-14 overall, 14-2 ASUN) | Queens (5-30 overall, 3-13 ASUN)
Location: Richard "Stick" Williams Dream Fields (Radford, Va.)
 
The Short Story:
The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team dropped the three-game series opener against the league-leaders from Stetson on Thursday night. Ryan Brown highlighted the Royals evening going 2-for-4 at the plate, including his first career home run.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-Stetson jumped on the board in the top of the first inning as Isaiah Barkett led off the game with a single to left field. The speedster swiped second and advanced to third on a defensive miscue by the Royals. The Hatters capitalized on the early opportunity as Juan De La Cruz brought home the first run of the game with an RBI ground out.
-The Hatters extended their lead in the top of the second inning as Jordan Taylor belted a solo home run to left field.
-Stetson went to work in the top of the fourth inning, stringing together three runs. Despite striking out, Landon Moran reached on a wild pitch. Foster Apple followed that up with an infield single and Jordan Taylor laced an RBI single through the right side to plate the Hatters third run of the game. Queens reliever Adrian Quezada picked up his third strikeout of the inning to inch closer to escaping the jam, but Landon Russell capitalized on the opportunity with a two-run double to left field extending the Hatters lead to 5-0.
-Queens jolted back in the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with a key four-run frame. Nick Alderfer got the inning started walk before Will Budnick roped a single down the right field line which advanced Alderfer to third. With runners on the corners, Tyler Peters delivered a sacrifice fly to right center which scored Alderfer and moved Budnick into scoring position. The Royals capitalized as Jay Polite ripped an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit to 5-2. The Hatters weren't out of danger yet as two-way sensation Ryan Brown stepped in and blasted a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw to chase the Stetson starter from the game and cut the deficit down to one.
-The visiting Hatters added three key insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning. Jordan Taylor got the rally started with a one-out single to left field before swiping second. Queens exchanged the second out of the inning allowing Lopez to move up on a ground out, but Landon Russell drove in the run with a single through the left side. Russell stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Royals and Jayden Hylton stepped in and delivered a pinch hit two-run homer to left field to extend the Hatters lead to 9-4.
-In the top of the ninth inning, Stetson tacked on two more runs on two hits and a Queens error. With runners on second and third and no outs, Landon Moran sent a sacrifice fly to left field to plate the 10^th run of the game for the Hatters. Jordan Taylor capped off the scoring with a two-out RBI single to left field to give the visitors a commanding 11-4 advantage.

BY THE NUMBERS
-Freshman Ryan Brown recorded his first multi-hit game of his career, including his first career home run.
-Charlotte native Will Budnick turned in his eighth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-3 performance and run scored.
-Nick Alderfer and Jay Polite rounded out the Royals offense with a hit on the night.
-Right-hander Adrian Quezada made his 10^th appearance of the season and tossed 6.0 innings allowing three earned runs on nine hits while striking out four Hatters.
-Colorado native Jack Brooker got the ball in the opener for his 17^th appearance, and first start of the season. The right-hander opened the game with 2.0 innings allowing one earned run on two hits while picking up a strikeout.
-The Stetson offense sprayed 13 hits on the day as Jordan Taylor led the charge with a 4-for-4 day, including four runs scored and three RBI.
-The Hatters did significant damage with runners on base hitting .474 on the night. The visitors two-out hitting propelled them as Stetson hit .357 in those situations.

NEXT UP
Queens and Stetson will return to action on Friday, April 18^th at 6:00 p.m. The game will be produced on the Queens Sports Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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