February 13, 2012 Contact: Scott Jamison 352.395.5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SF BASEBALL
DOTY, SIMPSON LEAD #1 SAINTS PAST ST. PETE, 9-3
Gainesville, FL – Drew Doty led a potent Santa Fe offense on Monday against St. Petersburg College and starter JT Simpson (3-0) did his part as the Saints cruised past the Titans 9-3. The win is the seventh in a row for SF and moves them to 11-1 on the season.
Simpson started on the hill and pitched five scoreless innings, striking out three, allowing just two hits. The bullpen struggled to find consistency as five pitchers combined to walk four and allow three runs over the final four innings. “JT did a great job, he didn’t have his best stuff but fought through it and gave us five solid innings,” said SF coach Johnny Wiggs. “We played sloppy at times, walked six guys and had a few errors. All that said it’s tough to get upset with an 11-1 record. Our guys are doing what it takes to win right now and we just need to keep the momentum going.”
Santa Fe plated two in the second inning on a RBI single by Caleb Denmark, knocking in Blake Berger who had previously tripled and on a RBI triple by Lawrence Pardo to open the scoring.
Drew Doty knocked in the third SF run with a double in the third and knocked in another run in the fifth with a double to make it 4-0. Later in the fifth Doty scored on a RBI single by Trey Griffin for the 5-0 lead.
In the sixth St. Pete got two quick out on the Saints, but SF rallied to plate three in the inning. Garrett Greenwell started the rally with a walk and Mallex Smith knocked in pinch runner Kyle Buchanan and Lawrence Pardo with a double. Two batters later Smith scored on a wild pitch to make the score 8-0.
The Titans finally got on the board in the seventh with two runs and also scored one in the eighth. The Saints answered with their final run on a Drew Doty single in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.
Doty led the way offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, Mallex Smith was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, Trey Griffin was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Caleb Denmark and Lawrence Pardo each finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. The Saints had nine hits in all, six for extra bases.
“Doty had some big hits in key situations today to help extend the lead a couple of times,” said Wiggs. “It was good to have Mallex back out there, hopefully he continues to get healthy and the rest of our guys continue to hit.”
The Saints wrap-up their five game home stand on Wednesday, February 15 against Hillsborough CC at 3:00 PM.
For complete schedules and more information on Saints Baseball, please visit www.sfcollege.edu/athletics. To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.
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