Ft. Pierce, FL - On Saturday, the Saints traveled to Ft. Pierce to take on the nation's number four team Indian River State College.  The River has only six losses on the year with one of those coming at the hands of the Saints back on March 24^th when the Saints split a double header with Indian River.  The rematch in Ft. Pierce, however, seemed to be a pitchers dual in comparison to the match up in Gainesville nearly a month ago. The Saints lost both game one and game two by only one run and combined to limit the River to three total runs in the two games.  In March the match up saw both teams push runs across the plate at will. The Saints record moves to 25-13 in the Citrus Conference and 34-19 overall.

How It Happened – Game One

Santa Fe gave up a run in the bottom of the second to Indian River but were able to answer quickly in the top of the third as Sydney Fowler homered to left field.  She also led the Saints hitting efforts with two hits.  The Saints out hit The River recording four total hits while Indian River was able to collect only two hits. 

In what turned out to be a strong defensive effort by both teams, the Saints were stellar in the field behind Mallory Forrester.   They committed no errors and Forrester was able to strike out four IRSC batters in six innings. 

The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth when Sarah Phipps of Indian River earned a double with a runner already in scoring position.  The Saints responded well and were able to get runners into scoring position but were unable to push them across in the top of the sixth or seventh.  Two runs is all it took for The River to claim the victory in game one.

How It Happened – Game Two

Santa Fe pitcher Ryleigh Bauer again showed up strong in the circle for a game two match up.  She pitched the complete game and took the loss against the Citrus Conferences' second place team, Indian River.  Bauer struck out two and had a solid outing.  The battle off the two top twenty teams in the nation didn't disappoint as the Saints made the fourth ranked team sweat until a sacrifice fly in the bottom of six moved a run across for the only run of the game.    

The Saints couldn't get much going offensively against Gendron who took the start in game two for Indian River.  The Saints did record four hits as Sophia Davis led the way with two of those four hits. 

The Saints finished the day 0-2 and finished the season series with Indian River by winning one of four games. The Saints are now 34-19 overall and 25-13 and in fourth place in the conference heading into double header at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa on Tuesday.  The Saints will complete the year with a match up at Miami Dade on Thursday and at home versus the Sharks on Saturday. 

Up Next at Santa Fe

On Saturday, April 27^th, the Saints will play Miami Dade at Noon and 2:00 in their last home double header of the year.