Tampa, FL - On Thursday, the Saints traveled to Hillsborough Community College in Tampa to take on the Hawks in a Citrus Conference matchup at the NY Yankees Himes Complex. The Saints entered Thursday's matchup in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference while Hillsborough is in tenth place. Santa Fe lost 10-2 in the run-ruled seven inning game. The Saints will now finish the series with HCC as well as the season at home Saturday with a doubleheader against the Hawks. The Saints' record moves to 17-14 in the Citrus Conference and 29-20 overall.

How It Happened

Cory Filley singled in the top of the first to get the Saints on the board and up 1-0, but from there it was all Hawks. The Saints gave up two runs in the bottom of the second to lose the lead. Landon Rogers hit a sacrifice fly to push Javier Soto across and to tie the game up in the top of four. 

The Hawks took control from there and scored four in the bottom of the fourth, followed by two in the bottom of the fifth, and ultimately two more in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off run rule finish. Matthew Jenkins pitched 3.1 innings for the Saints in the loss, giving up six runs and recording four strikeouts. 

The Saints will look to rebound on Saturday and win the series as the Hillsborough Community College Hawks travel to Gainesville for the Saturday doubleheader which begins at 12:00PM EDT. The Saints have an opportunity to solidify their position in the Citrus Conference and advance to the state tournament as the series finishes Saturday. 

Up Next at Santa Fe

On Saturday, April 27^th, the Saints will play Hillsborough at 12:00PM and 3:00PM EDT in their last home doubleheader of the year.