May 16, 2018

Box Score

Lakeland, FL – The NJCAA #7 Santa Fe Saints  (39-11) looked to be in control of their FCSAA Tournament game on Wednesday afternoon, taking an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth against the defending National Champions Chipola College.  It wasn't meant to be however, as a rally by the Indians, capped by a close call at first base ended the Saints season.

Santa Fe took a 3-2 lead when the game started on Tuesday but was halted due to rain.  Chipola took a 4-3 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth but the Saints answered with two in the top of the fifth to go back ahead 5-4.

A run in the eighth and two more in the ninth appeared to give SF what they needed to pick up the win and move on to play Hillsborough later in the day.

The Indians had other ideas and after a two run homerun cut the lead in half, the next two hitters reached to bring the winning run to the plate.

Garrett Mathes managed to get two outs and hang on to an 8-7 lead.  A ground ball to second was just what the Saints were looking for to end the game, but an errant throw allowed the tying run to score

One batter later with Chipola players at first and third, a sharp ground ball to Kyler Marquis at third base was snagged on a dive and his one hop throw was dug out by Jeff Misener in what appeared to be plenty of time to get the out.  The umpire however called the runner safe, allowing the run to score from third to end the game.

Devin Hemenway was outstanding in relief of starter Max McKinley, allowing three runs, just one earned to preserve the SF lead.

Andrew Eyster finished 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.  Garrett Mathes, Haydn Cano, Jeff Misener, Parker Biederer, and Mikey Navarrete had two hits each.

Tournament info can be found here.  Live broadcasts: www.team1sports.com/fcsaa

For complete schedules, stats, and more information please visit www.santafesaints.com. 

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