St. Petersburg, FL

After losing at home 7-3 in 12 innings to St. Petersburg on Thursday, April 9th, Santa Fe (19-23, 8-19) traveled to St. Petersburg College (16-25, 9-18) on Saturday, April 11th, losing the first game of the doubleheader 8-6 and winning the second game 11-7.

Game 1

The Saints took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but St. Petersburg would end up taking the lead 8-5 in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run inning of their own.

Santa Fe added a run in the top of the sixth when a Hayden Montanez double scored Maddox Lee, but it was not enough and St. Petersburg won the game 8-6.

Wyatt Tesar, Ryan Chase, and Cole Carnell all recorded two hits.

Game 2

St. Petersburg scored two runs in the bottom of the first, Santa Fe responded with three runs in the top of the second, and St. Petersburg answered with two more runs in the bottom of the second to maintain a 4-3 lead.

The Saints scored three more runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game 6-6 with a wild pitch and a Ryan Chase single to score Shawn Andrade.

St. Petersburg regained the lead 7-6 with an error in the bottom of the sixth, but Santa Fe took the lead 8-7 after a James Suarez sacrifice fly to score JP Espinosa and a wild pitch that scored Andrade.

The Saints added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 11-7. Espinosa singled on a bunt to score Conner Brown, and Ryan Chase hit a sacrifice fly to score Andrade and Espinosa.

Shawn Andrade led the team with three hits, and Ryan Chase led the team with three RBIs. JP Espinosa recorded two hits and two RBIs, scored four runs, and drew two walks.

Austin Cardozo earned the win, recording five strikeouts and allowing four hits, one walk, and one earned run over 5.2 innings of innings pitched in relief.

The Saints will host Eastern Florida State College (16-27, 9-18) on Thursday, April 16th at 3:00pm. Eastern Florida plays at Pasco-Hernando State College (27-18) on Tuesday, April 14th at 5:00pm.