SF BASEBALL – 5/5/2012
Lakeland, FL – Trey Griffin led a resurgent Santa Fe (37-12) offense Friday afternoon, finishing 3-for-3 as the Saints pulled out a 7-5 win over Indian River State College to stay alive in the FCSAA State Tournament. Today’s win ties the 2012 Saints for most wins in school history with last year’s team. SF moves on to play a team to be determined tomorrow at 1:00 PM. Fans can watch live on www.psblive.com.
Ryan Yarbrough started on the hill for Santa Fe and pitched 4.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits before giving way to Felix Roque. Roque threw the final 4.1 frames, allowing three runs on five hits to pick up the win.
The game was scoreless through the first two and a half innings before the Saints broke through for four runs in the bottom of the third on just one hit and two IRSC errors. Mallex Smith started the frame getting hit by a curveball and Shane Kennedy followed with a ground ball to the short stop who proceeded to throw it over the second baseman’s head to put runners on the corners.
Drew Doty knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly that was dropped by the left fielder, allowing Smith to score and Kennedy to advance to third and Doty to second. Caleb Denmark followed with a walk and Trey Griffin drilled a ground ball between third and short stop to plate two runs and give SF a 3-0 lead. The fourth run of the inning came on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Graham Ramos.
The Pioneers scored two in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 4-2 but Ramos answered the bell for SF, knocking in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to push it to 5-2.
In the sixth, IRSC scored again, but just as before, the Saints answered. This time it was Drew Doty knocking home Jacob Tillotson who had singled to start the inning and stole second with two outs to get into scoring position.
The Saints added an insurance run on a passed ball by the Pioneers catcher in the seventh.
Indian River didn’t give in and scored two in the ninth before a double play by SF second baseman Shane Kennedy ended the game.
The Saints recorded nine hits and stole eight bases on the game. Griffin led the way going 3-for-3 with two RBI and two stolen bases, earning the PSBLive Player of the Game. Jacob Tillotson was 2-for-4 with two steals, Drew Doty finished 1-for-4 with two RBI and Graham Ramos was 1-for-2 with two RBI.
The Saints continue at the FCSAA Tournament on Saturday against a team to be determined at 1:00 PM. Watch live on www.psblive.com. The winner advances on to play Sunday and the loser will see their season come to an end.
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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