GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe Baseball and the College of Central Florida completed two Mid-Florida Conference games on Monday afternoon at the SF Baseball Field, and the conference-leading Patriots won two more in the season series.

GAME 1 – CF 9, SF 7

The first game began at 1:30 p.m. and was the resumption of a previously suspended game from Mar. 9.

The Patriots held a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when the day's play began, but the Saints made this one extremely interesting and put a scare into CF.

Although the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth were retired for SF, the Saints started a bit of a rally with back-to-back walks followed by a hit-by-pitch.

SF brought one run across to make it a 9-4 game after a throw from the catcher to first base got loose. With runners still on first and second, the Patriots were able to minimize the damage and strand two baserunners.

The Saints' rally had more juice still, however, as SF started to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, once again with two outs.

Gabriel Esquivel had a double, then Xavier Moronta scored him with an RBI single. In the next at-bat, Moronta advanced to second on a wild pitch and Santiago Garavito drove him in, and the score was 9-6 in the blink of an eye.

 Dylan Mock's grounder appeared to be the third and final out, but a CF error kept the SF hopes alive. Wyatt Campbell and Bret Madren were then both hit by pitches, and the bases were loaded with the score now at 9-7.

With the tying run at second base, the Saints were potentially just a base hit away from an improbable comeback, but the Patriots earned the final out with a strikeout swinging.

Key Statistics

The losing pitcher was Garfield Johns, after his start on Mar. 9. Jake Blair and Jalen Hudson entered out of the bullpen, with Hudson throwing a scoreless ninth on Monday.

SF had seven hits, with doubles coming from Jevin Relaford, Esquivel, and Madren. Madren had two RBI, and Garavito went 2-of-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

GAME 2 – CF 13, SF 5

In the regularly scheduled second game of the final series between the two teams, the Patriots once again got the better of the Saints.

It was scoreless after the first two innings, then CF went ahead 2-0 in the top half of the third with a two-RBI single.

Madren led-off the Saints' at-bats in the bottom half with a solo homer to cut the deficit in half, and the score remained that way until the top of the fifth. The Patriots seized a 7-1 lead, getting into the SF bullpen and bringing nine different batters to the dish in the big inning. Santa Fe issued three walks, and had an error, two wild pitches, and a passed ball.

In the bottom of the fifth, Relaford had a double and then scored when Tyler Shelnut touched them all with his 13th home run of the season.

CF didn't let Santa Fe any closer, however, and took an 11-3 lead in the seventh with four more runs, putting the run-rule into effect.

SF stayed alive with their final two runs in their next at-bats when Shelnut cleared the fence for the second time, but the deficit was too much to overcome and CF added solo runs in the final two innings to account for the 13-5 final score.

Key Statistics

Four pitchers took the mound for the Saints against the high-powered CF offense. Trent Becker fell to a record of 6-3 with the loss, while three freshman in Jacob Lauderdale, Tobin Moran, and Gaven Book concluded the game over the final five innings.

Shelnut's two home runs drove in four, as he moved into a tie for the team lead with Esquivel in season homers at 14, No. 2 in the NJCAA.

Madren was also 2-of-4 with a home run of his own, his second of the season.

Up Next

Santa Fe (21-17, 9-8 MFC) and the College of Central Florida (29-13, 15-2 MFC) will play for the final time in the regular season on Wednesday, Apr. 6 at 3:00 p.m. in Ocala, Fla.