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 match up 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 bump 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 RBI's.

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 1st inning, Jose Rangel hit a ground ball single to advance to 1st base. Andrey Martinez was then walked, sending Rangel to 2nd. 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 2nd 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 2nd and Soto on 1st. BJ Graham then hit a single to bring home Grant Gallagher and tie up the game 1-1 with one out with Saints on 1st and 2nd 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 3rd. Griffin Sorrow then bunted which was then over thrown at 1st base to bring in Harman and send Sorrow all the way around to 3rd base. The Saints ended the inning in the lead 5-1.

To start off the bottom of the 5th 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 2nd with Sorrow at bat. Harman then continued to steal 3rd with Sorrow still at the plate. 

AJ Barrios hit a triple from the first pitch in the bottom of the 7th inning. Barrios scored off of a double from Drake Harman. Drake Harman then stole 3rd off of a wild pitch. Grant Gallagher was then walked, bringing up Javier Soto. Javier Soto fouled off and was caught to end the inning. 

Andrey Martinez advanced to 1st base off of a Saints error in the top of the 8th inning. Brett Wagner then singled, sending Martinez to 2nd. Diego Aponte then walked to load the bases for the Titans. Jordan Smiley then also walked to bring in a Titans run and decrease the Saints lead to 7-2. Esteban Olivares then hit a 3 run single to further shrink the Saints lead to 7-5. 

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Cory Filley was up to bat first and was walked. BJ Graham was then hit by a pitch to also walk to 1st base, sending Filley to 2nd. Both Graham and Filley advanced to the next base on a wild pitch with Landon Rogers at bat. Landon Rogers then advanced to base on an error to load the bases for the Saints. Cory 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.

In the top of the 9th inning, Jose Rangel walked to start off the inning. Coltin Pizzio also walked following after Rangel. Andrey Martinez then hit a three run home run 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 10-5 Saints.

Up Next

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