Michael Paul improved to 3-0 on the year and the Saints avenged a loss to State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota earlier this season with a 3-1 win Monday afternoon in Gainesville.

Paul (3-0) worked seven innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run to get the win. Garrett Mathes fanned five of the eight batters he faced in the final two innings to earn his second save of the year.

"Michael Paul gave us a gutsy performance today," said SF head coach Johnny Wiggs. "He didn't have his best stuff but fought through it and kept hanging zeros on the board."

Paul has still not allowed an earned run over 23 innings pitched.

The Saints (15-3) broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Jarrod Cande started the inning with a single and scored one out later on a triple by Isaiah Perry. Parker BIederer followed with an RBI single to put the Saints up 2-0.

Kyler Marquis scored the Saints third run when he led off the sixth with a base on balls and scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Cande.

SCF (11-4) scored their only run aided by a two-out error and a balk in the top of the seventh.

"This was a good win against a quality opponent that is in the playoffs every year," said Wiggs

Marquis, Biederer and Jonathan Logsdon had two hits apiece for the Saints.

The Saints, presently ranked #2 in the Florida College System Activities Association coaches' poll and #12 in the National Junior College Athletics Association poll, will travel to Tifton, GA for a game against Abraham-Baldwin Agricultural College on Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.

For all SF Athletics schedules, stats and more visit santafesaints.com.

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