Ocala, FL- Santa Fe traveled down to face conference rival College of Central Florida to finish up a three-game series. On Thursday, the Saints won the first game 2-0 at home.  In Game 1 of this doubleheader, the Saints pulled out a win after taking a late game 4-3 lead. The Saints lost Game 2 10-4 as they were outpaced by the Patriots.

How It Happened

Game 1

Justin Jackson took the mound for the Saints pitching a full seven innings with seven strikeouts and three earned runs.

After neither team was able to get anything going in the first inning, the Patriots opened up with scoring in the second inning as Michael Guilliams singled on a line drive to right fielder Drake Harman. Armando Guirola scored from second base.  

In the top of the fourth inning, BJ Graham hit a home run to score Cory Filley and give the Saints a 2-1 lead.  

In the fifth inning, Grant Gallagher advanced to third base on a wild pitch, while Drake Harman advanced to second base. Javier Soto grounded out at first base but scored Grant Gallagher to increase the Saints lead to 3-1.  

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Cole Bullen homered to left field to score Logan Chapman as the Patriots gained momentum and tied the game 3-3.

In the top of the seventh inning, Drake Harman hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Kainen Jorge to score Ma'Kai Johnson and give the Saints a 4-3 lead. The Saints played stout defense to end the game as they were able to turn a double play to end the game on a grounder by Cooper Jones.

Game 2

Cortland Clarke, Jack Garvey, James Hill, and Karson Lindsey all saw time on mound for the Patriots.  They combined for a total of seven strikeouts, five walks and six hits.  

Colby Rice, Lucas Johns, Nick Davidson, and Nick Staszak had their time on the mound, combining for a total of six strikeouts.  

Both teams committed two errors and the Patriots outhit the Saints 12 to six. 

The Patriots were on the board first after Kainen Jorge singled on a hard ground ball to left fielder Connor Fosnow in the first inning. Kareh Valentin singled on a ground ball to right field to score Copper Jones. 

Edwin Toribio stepped up to the plate and hit a three-run home run to increase the Patriots lead to 5-0.

The Saints finally were able to get on the board in the sixth inning as Cory Filley would provide a spark by hitting a line drive single to score Drake Harman. After Filley stole second and advanced to third base on an error by the catcher, BJ Graham grounded out to the shortstop, but was able to bring home Cory Filley and cut the Patriots lead to 5-2.

Both teams went on to score more runs but ultimately the Patriots won out with a final score of 10-4. 

Comments From Coach Wiggs

"It was great to win another series especially against a real good team in Central Florida. Jackson was good again for us throwing a complete game just making one mistake which was the two-run home run."  

Up Next

Santa Fe will play the first of a three-game series at Seminole State College on Thursday, March 28th. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 3PM EDT.