Freshman Karla Claudio pitched the Saints past the College of Central Florida 3-2 in game one of a double header on Thursday afternoon and Ashley Holton powered the offense in a game two 9-2 victory.
Claudio pitched all seven innings game one, surrendering two runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
The Saints (31-21, 16-6 MFC) scored one in the first on a Layne McDermond two out RBI single and one in the second on a Brittney Mayhill RBI double to go ahead 2-0. The Patriots countered with a run in the third and Santa Fe answered in the fifth on a homerun by Alaysia Miller.
CF scored in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, but Claudio and the SF defense clamped down and held on for the 3-2 win.
Claudio was 2-for-4 in game one, Miller was 1-for-2 with a homerun and Bianca Torres was 2-for-4 with a double.
In game two, the Santa Fe offense took over, scoring nine runs on 11 hits, despite leaving 13 stranded on base. Central Florida walked three and committed six errors.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the third, the Saints put three runs on the board to take a lead they would not relinquish. Holton brought the first run home with a RBI single, Nicole Day knocked in the next run with a bases loaded single and Bianca Torres drew a bases loaded walk for a 3-1 Saints lead.
SF added a run in the fourth on another bases loaded walk and one in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Holton, putting the Saints out in front 5-2.
Santa Fe put the game away in the sixth, scoring four runs on three hits and two errors. Back to back Patriot errors brought the first run home and Brittney Mayhill made the miscues sting when she nailed a double to deep right field, scoring one. Holton capped the inning with a two RBI single for a 9-2 lead.
Claudio, pitching in relief of Shannen Marchu worked a perfect sixth and finished the game off in the seventh to secure the win.
Holton finished game two 3-for-4 with four RBI, Brittney Mayhill was 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and a RBI and Nicole Day was 3-for-4 with a RBI.
Santa Fe wraps up the regular season on Saturday at Florida State College – Jacksonville at 1:00 PM. The Saints are tied with FSC-J atop the MFC standings.
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