Gainesville, FL - On Thursday afternoon, the Santa Fe Saints hosted the St. Petersburg College Titans for a single game to start the series. This is the first matchup between the two teams. Today, the Saints won with a score of 10-8. Santa Fe's record advances to 28-18.

How It Happened

Matthew Jenkins started on the mound for the Saints. He pitched for seven innings. He also threw for six strikeouts, six hits, and one run. Nick Staszak, Colby Rice, and Nick Davidson followed after him on the mound. The Saints pitchers had a total of nine strikeouts. 

BJ Graham, AJ Barrios, and Drake Harman were the leading hitters for the Saints. They each had two hits. AJ Barrios, Drake Harman, and Griffin Sorrow also each had two RBIs.

Braeden Cochran was the starting pitcher for the Titans. He pitched for just over four innings. He allowed six hits, six runs, and threw for four strikeouts. Brett Wagner was the leading hitter with two hits. 

In the top of the first inning, Jose Rangel hit a ground ball single to advance to first base. Andrey Martinez was then walked, sending Rangel to second. Both Rangel and Martinez stole the next base off of a wild pitch. Rangel then scored off a ground ball that was put out by Brett Wagner to put the Titans up 1-0. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Grant Gallagher started off for the Saints with a walk. Javier Soto then hit a pop fly that was dropped to put Gallagher on second and Soto on first. BJ Graham then hit a single to bring home Grant Gallagher and tie up the game 1-1 with one out with Saints on first and second base. Landon Rogers then walked to load the bases. AJ Barrios then hit a single to bring in Javier Soto and give the Saints the 2-1 lead and keep the bases loaded. Drake Harman walked to bring home BJ Graham and further increase the Saints lead to 3-1. Griffin Sorrow then also walked to bring home Landon Rogers and put the Saints up 4-1.

Drake Harman hit a double to the fence with two outs on the board to get the Saints back on base in the bottom of the third. Griffin Sorrow bunted which was then overthrown at first base to bring in Harman and send Sorrow all the way around to third base. The Saints ended the inning in the lead 5-1.

To start off the bottom of the fifth inning, Landon Rogers ripped a triple to center left field. AJ Barrios then grounded out to bring home Rogers and increase the Saints lead to 6-1. Drake Harman was then walked, bringing up Griffin Sorrow. Harman stole second with Sorrow at bat. Harman then continued to steal third with Sorrow still at the plate. 

AJ Barrios hit a triple from the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. Barrios scored off of a double from Drake Harman. Harman then stole third off of a wild pitch. Grant Gallagher was then walked, bringing up Javier Soto. Soto fouled off and was caught to end the inning. 

Andrey Martinez advanced to first base off of a Saints error in the top of the eighth inning. Brett Wagner then singled, sending Martinez to second. Diego Aponte then walked to load the bases for the Titans. Jordan Smiley also walked to bring in a Titans run and decrease the Saints lead to 7-2. Esteban Olivares then hit a three-run single to further shrink the Saints lead to 7-5. 

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Cory Filley was up to bat first and was walked. BJ Graham was then hit by a pitch to also walk to first base, sending Filley to second. Both Graham and Filley advanced to the next base on a wild pitch with Landon Rogers at bat. Rogers then advanced to base on an error to load the bases for the Saints. Filley scored on a wild pitch with Wyatt Campbell at bat to put the Saints up 8-5. Campbell was then walked to load the bases. The Saints brought in another run on a wild pitch to advance their lead to 9-5 with one out. Drake Harman walked to load the bases once again. Landon Rogers scored off a RBI sacrifice fly from Griffin Sorrow to secure the Saints lead at 10-5.

Jose Rangel and Coltin Pizzio walked to start off the ninth inning. Andrey Martinez then hit a three-run homer to shrink the Saints' lead to 10-8 with no outs in the inning. The Saints were able to end the inning and the game thanks to a diving catch from Javier Soto in center field.

The Saints wrapped up the game with eight hits while the Titans had nine hits. The final score was 10-8 Saints. 

Up Next

On Saturday, April 20th, the Saints will travel to St. Petersburg to finish the series against the Titans for a doubleheader. The first pitches will be thrown at 12:00PM and 3:30PM EDT.