The Santa Fe Saints came up short in their bid for a shot at the Mid-Florida Conference championship on Sunday, falling to the College of Central Florida 10-4 in Gainesville. The loss created a situation where the Saints needed St. John’s River to lose to Seminole State, but that was not the case as the Vikings took care of business and defeated the Raiders to win their third straight MFC title. The game scheduled for Sunday, April 26 between the Saints and St. John’s has been cancelled. With the regular season complete, the SF will now prepare for the FCSAA State Tournament May 8-13.
The Saints (30-10, 17-6 MFC) out hit the Central Florida Patriots on Saturday, but failed to come up with the big hits with runners on, stranding eight runners on base and hitting into three double plays.
Central Florida hit two homeruns in the first four innings, and built their lead with three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and three more in the seventh to pull away for the win.
Santa Fe was never able to get anything going on offense after tying the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Hugo Valdes provided a spark for the Saints with his first homerun of the season in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough. Valdes finished 3-for-3 on the day with a homerun, RBI, and run scored. Chandler Rodriguez, Jared Shouppe, Cliff Bryant, and Matt Allen all had two hits apiece.
Austin Goss (6-3) started on the hill for SF and took the loss, allowing five runs in 4.2 innings pitched.
Next up for the Saints is the FCSAA State Tournament in Lakeland at Joker Marchant Stadium. SF will play their first round game on Friday, May 8 at 4:00 PM against a team to be determined. The tournament is double elimination and every game can be seen live at www.psblive.com. For full tournament details, visithttp://thefcsaasports.com/championships/fcsaa_baseball_tournament
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