CHARLOTTE (Interstat) — Joel Core and Connor Ball combined on a two-hit shutout as Stetson beat Queens 2-0 on Thursday afternoon at Truist Park.

Core pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing no hits and striking out two. Ball followed with 4 2/3 hitless innings, giving the Hatters a 2-0 win that evened the ASUN series after Queens had taken two of three earlier this season.

Stetson improved to 22-30, while Queens dropped to 15-37.

The game remained scoreless through five innings as both teams struggled to generate offense. Queens starter Avery Booker scattered seven hits over six innings, allowing one earned run and striking out two. He was pulled after the sixth, and Jake Young struck out six over three scoreless relief innings.

Queens threatened in the first inning when Anibal Rivera singled and Thomas Mathay walked. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position with two outs, but Kyle Wong lined out to third base to end the inning. In the fifth, the Royals again put a runner on base but could not push across a run.

Stetson broke the deadlock in the top of the sixth. After Russell singled but was caught stealing, Renzo Gonzalez hit a solo home run to right field, his first hit of the game. One out later, Hylton reached on a throwing error by third baseman Anibal Rivera, advanced to third on the error, and scored on Samuel Fernandez’s single up the middle. Fernandez went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

The two-run inning proved sufficient for the Stetson pitching staff. Core, who entered with a 5.09 ERA this season, worked efficiently through the first four innings, allowing only two hits while facing the minimum through three. He left after throwing 54 pitches in the fifth, turning the game over to Ball. The reliever retired the first eight batters he faced before Hunter Huneycutt doubled to left field in the eighth inning. But Ball induced a groundout from G. Childers and a lineout from Rivera to end the threat.

In the ninth, Queens put the tying run on base when Wong walked with one out. A pinch runner entered, but Bradley Brown fouled out and Michael Suppa grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

The Hatters had six hits overall, led by Fernandez’s two singles. Gonzalez’s home run was his only hit in four at-bats. For Queens, Rivera had two hits and Huneycutt added a double. The Royals managed only four hits total and struck out three times.

The game was the first of a three-game weekend series. Stetson and Queens meet again Friday and Saturday. Stetson entered the series having won five of its previous seven games, including a 13-3 victory over Queens on April 12. Queens, meanwhile, had lost four of its last five.

The pitching performance was a key turnaround for Stetson, which had allowed 26 runs over its previous three games. Core’s outing was his longest since throwing three innings May 9 against Jacksonville. Ball’s four-plus innings of hitless relief marked his longest appearance of the season.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Stetson 5, Queens 3, and its ELO system gave Stetson a 77.4 percent probability to win.