After opening the 2020 season by winning their first six games, the Santa Fe Saints dropped both ends of a doubleheader to State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota 7-5 and 7-6 Saturday afternoon in Gainesville.

 SCF took an early 2-0 lead in the opener when they scored twice in the opening frame. But the Saints got on the board when Karina Ortiz-Munoz homered with the bases empty in the third, her second round tripper of the season.

The Saints tied the score at 2-2 with a run in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly by Laila Dickey in the fifth put the Saints up 3-2.

But the Manatees scored five times in the sixth with three of the runs unearned and a two-run sixth by the Saints came up short in the 7-5 SCF win.

"It's difficult to overcome errors in the field and mental mistakes against a very well coached team like SCF," said SF head coach Lindsay Fico.

Game two started much like the first game ended with SCF (3-3) scoring two runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Although the Saints answered with a pair of runs in the third, SCF scored three more times in the fourth and held a commanding 7-2 lead after four innings.

"We pitched behind in the count most of the day which resulted in too many free bases," said Fico. "Our hitters didn't make adjustments in the box either."

The Saints did chip away at the deficit with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and two more in the bottom of the seventh, but came up just short, losing 7-6.

Jaye Cater had four hits on the day for the Saints while Ortiz-Munoz, Grace Prom, Grace Guthrie and Jessica Parsells had three hits apiece.

Cris Beasley (3-1) took the loss in the opener and Donnie Gobourne (3-1) suffered the loss in game two. Morgan Lebeda worked 3.1 scoreless innings in the nightcap.

The Saints (6-2) will travel to Clearwater on Tuesday to face St. Petersburg College in a doubleheader, the first of three straight doubleheaders on the road before returning to Gainesville to face Eastern Florida State College on Thursday February 20.

For all SF athletics schedules, stats and more visit santafesaints.com.