GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a dramatic finish on Thursday evening in a 14-13 victory to force a decisive Game 3 in the Mid-Florida Conference Tournament, Santa Fe Softball was edged by Seminole State College on Friday in another high-scoring contest, 12-10.

Although SF battled until the final out, the narrow defeat concluded the Saints' 2022 season and advanced Seminole State into the next stage of postseason play.

SEMINOLE 12, SF 10

After a 27-run Game 2, the third game started with both offenses continuing their torrid paces.

A three-run home run from the Raiders off starter Darian Ingram in the top half of the first inning put the Saints in an early hole.

In the first at-bats for Santa Fe, Story Giebeig earned a two-out walk. Keeli Zingaro proceeded to clear the wall in center field with a home run of her own, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Ingram and the defense had a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, and the Saints took advantage to tie it up at 3-3 when Morgan Lebeda belted her third home run of the series, a leadoff solo shot.

The Raiders had a four-spot in the third frame, however. Seminole had a solo long ball of their own, then took advantage of an SF error to push the lead to 5-3. Back-to-back RBI singles then gave the guests the 7-3 advantage, as Ingram was forced to hand the ball off to Calen Hayes in the circle.

Hayes earned a pop out to conclude the inning, and the Saints answered the call for another comeback after erasing an 8-0 deficit on Thursday. The first two hitters in the bottom of the third reached safely, beginning with a Riley Schnyder walk and then followed by a Giebeig single.

Zingaro's bat was next up, and she stayed hot with her second home run of the game and third of the series to drive in three runs. Later in the inning, Lebeda stayed dialed in and crushed a no-doubter to left-center field, tying the game at 7-7.

The Saints were able to take their first lead of the game, 8-7, with a bases loaded walk from Abrianna Hickox in the bottom of the fourth. Seminole State escaped the jam with minimal damage, however, stranding all three baserunners with consecutive SF flyouts.

Seminole State continued the trend of putting up a crooked number every other inning, seizing momentum right back with five runs in the fifth frame to go in front 12-8.

The Seminole State lead was first regained, 9-8, with a two-RBI double off Hayes. Following a single, the Raiders got yet another hurtful three-run homer, this time from a pinch-hitter.

In the bottom of the fifth, Giebeig had an RBI single and Hickox another RBI walk to cut the deficit in half and make it 12-10.

Sophie Abrams in the circle posted zeros in both the sixth and seventh innings from the circle to give SF a chance, and the Saints were down to their final at-bats needing at least two runs to force extra-innings.

The first two hitters were retired via flyouts, but Zingaro brought the tying run to the plate with a single up the middle. In the ensuing at-bat, Hickox saw something she liked with the first pitch, but her swing sent the ball to the oncoming center fielder for the final out, starting Seminole's celebration.

Key Statistics

A combined 49 runs were scored over the course of the last two games in the series, coming off 51 hits in an entertaining, seesaw matchup.

All ten runs for SF were driven in on Friday, and the Saints tallied nine hits and 11 walks. Zingaro, Giebeig, and Lebeda each had multi-hit efforts. Zingaro's final line was a perfect 3-of-3 with two walks, two runs scored, her two home runs, and five RBI.

Lebeda's two home runs of her own accounted for the other SF extra-base hits. The Rollins College commitment had four home runs over the course of the series, and back-to-back multi-homer games.

Giebeig finished 2-of-3 with two runs scored, two walks, and an RBI, and Hickox scored two with two walks.

From the circle, the Saints threw Ingram, Hayes, and Abrams in order. Hayes (3-1) took her first loss of the season before giving way to Abrams, who conceded just two hits and two walks in 2.2 scoreless innings pitched.

MFC Tournament Results

Game 1 – SEMINOLE 5, SF 3 (Box Score | Recap)

Game 2 – SF 14, SEMINOLE 13 (Box Score | Recap)

Game 3 – SEMINOLE 12, SF 10

Up Next

Seminole State advances to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII State Tournament, while Santa Fe concludes the 2022 season with a 32-19 record overall.

In Head Coach Savanah Webster's first season with the Saints, SF finished as the No. 2 seed in the regular season of the Mid-Florida Conference before dropping two games to one to the Raiders in the MFC Tournament. SF held a 21-6 record on their home field, and the 32 wins overall surpassed the mark of 31 in 2021, continuing the program's upward trajectory.