DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Santa Fe Baseball had a quiet day at the plate at Daytona State College, and the Falcons used a crooked inning in the sixth to pull away from the Saints to win it 9-2.

It was eerily similar to the last time the two teams met, when the Falcons salvaged a Game 3 win to avoid a sweep.

The Falcons scored single runs in the first and second inning to go in front 2-0.

SF would tie it at 2-2 in the fifth, however. Bret Madren led off with a solo home run, the Zeb Marquis singled. After a sacrifice from Hunter Keen moved Marquis to second base, Jevin Relaford advanced on a dropped third strike to put runners on the corners.

Tyler Shelnut stroked a sacrifice fly deep enough into the outfield for an RBI to even the score.

Reliever Tobin Moran had relieved starter Garfield Johns and had some smooth, scoreless innings of work. In the bottom of the sixth though, the Falcons got the better of him, batting around the order and in the process taking a 9-2 lead with seven runs scored.

The Falcons had six hits off Moran in the frame, including back-to-back home runs before he gave way to Wyatt Campbell to work out of the inning.

SF went down in order in both the seventh and eighth (which included four K's), and although baserunners advanced to second and third base in the ninth, the Saints couldn't bring in any runs to put some scoreboard pressure on the hosts.

A groundout ended the season's final game between the two sides from Daytona Beach.

Key Statistics

SF had eight hits, while Daytona State finished with 13. Gabriel Esquivel, Z. Marquis, and Madren had two hits apiece.

Madren's home run was his third of the season. Xavier Moronta had the only other extra-base hit, a double.

The pitching performances went from Johns to Moran, then Campbell to Gavin Book for the final inning. Moran (2-4) took the loss.

Campbell and Book were effective to combine to record the final eight outs, allowing just one hit while Campbell notched four K's and Book one.

Up Next

Santa Fe (26-22, 14-13 MFC) will begin their final regular season series of 2022 with Lake-Sumter State College on Saturday, Apr. 23 at 1:00 p.m. on the SF Baseball Field.

To advance to the FCSAA State Tournament as the Mid-Florida Conference runner-up, SF will need to sweep the Lakehawks while hoping the College of Central Florida is also able to sweep Seminole State College.