Gainesville, FL - On Tuesday afternoon, the Santa Fe Saints hosted the Seminole State College Raiders in a doubleheader. The Saints beat the Raiders March 19th in a doubleheader 13-0 and 11-3. Today, the Saints won the first game 7-6 with a walk-off double by Aliana Mercado. Seminole State took Game 2 with a score of 10-4. Their record is now 32-17 on the season.

How It Happened

Game 1

Mallory Forrester started on the mound for the Saints. She pitched for the full seven innings and recorded five strikeouts. She allowed six hits. The Raiders used the pitching rotation of Cassidy Ross, Grace Thomas, and Morgan Greene. They threw for a combined two strikeouts and 11 hits. 

Santa Fe recorded 11 hits, while Seminole recorded six. The leading batter for the Saints was Ariana Wright, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Jayla Clark and Aliana Mercado (RBI) both went 2-for-4. Madi Conway went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  

Leila Rocke led the way offensively for the Raiders going 2-for-2 at the plate. Shortstop Lindsay Corazzini went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  

In the top of a quick first inning, the Saints got the Raiders out three up and three down. 

In the bottom of the first, Jayla Clark hustled to first base to give the Saints the first hit of the game. Ariana Wright was then hit by a pitch to advance to first and send Clark to second. However, the Saints ended the inning scoreless.

The Raiders got their first hit in the top of the third inning from Leila Rocke, putting the Raiders on first base. However, the inning was ended short after thanks to a pop fly catch from Aliana Mercado.

Anna Burnside hit a single to left field to get on base to start off the bottom of the third inning. Sydney Fowler then hit a ground ball single up the middle to send Burnside to second. Anna Burnside got caught stealing to put the first out on the board. Jayla Clark then advanced to first base off of a Raiders error. Sydney Fowler stole home plate with Ariana Wright up to bat to give the Saints their first run of the game. Jayla Clark then made it home after an overthrown ball to increase the Saints the lead to 2-0. Madi Conway then hit a two-run homer to further advance the lead to 4-0 with two outs on the board. Karris Rhine was up to bat next and was hit by a pitch to walk to first. The Saints did not score any more runs in the bottom of the third.

The top of the fourth inning started with a fly ball caught by Jayla Clark to give the Raiders their first out. Another fly ball was hit to Sydney Fowler for the second out. Lindsay Corazzini came in and hit a solo home run that bounced off the fence to put the first run for the Raiders on the board. Clark caught the final fly ball to end the inning 4-1.

Aliana Mercado stepped up to the plate first for the Saints in the bottom of the fourth inning and hit a quick double down the middle. Aliana Mercado stole home to put the Saints up 5-1. 

Mallory Forrester struck out the first Raider at bat to start off the top of the fifth inning. Anna Green advanced to first base off a Santa Fe error with one out on the board. Leila Rocke was then hit by a pitch to walk to first and send Green to second. Kiara Beltre was then walked to load the bases. Grace Thomas then struck out. The Raiders scored two runs off a single from Avery Brewer to shrink the Saints lead to 5-3. Lindsay Corazzini then hit a double to left field to tie the game at 5-5. Mel Bullock was up to plate next and also hit for a Saints error to bring in another run and put the Raiders on top 6-5. Finally, Clark caught a pop fly to center field to end the top of the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Saints knotted the game at 6-6 with a line drive single to right field by Juliann Smith to score Clark from second base.

Aliana Mercado hit a walk-off ground ball double to right field to score Karris Rhine to end Game 1. The final score was 7-6.  

Game 2

Ryleigh Bauer started on the mound for the Saints in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

The Raiders took control early. Leadoff batter Kiara Beltre hit a solo home run with the next batter hitting a line drive single. This allowed the runner to advance to second base on a wild pitch. The following batter, Avery Brewer, hit a two-run homer, giving the Raiders a quick 3-0 lead over the Saints. Santa Fe then responded with three back-to-back outs to end the Raiders' run.

In the bottom of the first inning, Sydney Fowler was walked to give the Saints a baserunner and advanced to second on a wild pitch. This was followed by Jayla Clark being walked. Fowler scored for the Saints on a sacrifice ground out by Ariana Wright, then Clark scored on another sacrifice ground out by Juliann Smith to cut the Raiders' lead to 3-2.

In the top of the second inning, the first batter for the Raiders hit a double to the center field fence to give them a baserunner. Bauer struck out the following batter, giving the Saints their first out. The Saints escaped the inning without giving up any runs.

Karris Rhine hit a double to begin the bottom of the second inning. This was followed by Alexis Daphney getting hit by a pitch to give the Saints runners at first and second. The Saints were unable to capitalize on these baserunners and did not score any runs.

In the top of the third inning, the Raiders hit a double to give them a baserunner. Later in the inning, the Raiders scored one run, giving them a 4-2 lead over the Saints.

The Saints began the bottom of the third inning with a double by Sydney Fowler. She advanced to third on a sacrifice ground ball hit by Jayla Clark. The Saints were unable to score any runs this inning.

In the fourth inning, the Saints cut into the Raiders lead and tied the game up 4-4 by being patient at the plate, earning four walks and two runs.

Avery Brewer hit her second home run to put the Raiders up 5-4. The game was put out of reach for the Saints after Mel Bullock hit a grand slam in the sixth inning.

The Raiders win over the Saints with final score of 11-4.

Up Next

On Thursday, April 18th, the Saints will host the State College of Florida Manatees for a doubleheader. The first pitches will be thrown at 2:00PM and 4:00PM EDT.