January 29, 2018 – Santa Fe Saints fans were treated to extra innings on opening day as SF and Hillsborough CC battled to a 2-2 tie through nine innings. It wasn’t until the 11th that the Saints finally broke through on a RBI single by Nick Lentz, scoring pinch runner Parker Biederer to walk off with the victory.
FCSAA #5 SF opened the scoring in the first with a pair of runs on a two RBI hit by Garrett Mathes. Hillsborough pitching would shut them down for the next nine innings, and the Hawks tied the game with a run in the third and one in the fourth. SF pitching clamped down the remainder of the way and held HCC scoreless, setting up the extra inning heroics.
Mathes (1-0) picked up the win in relief of starter Max McKinley and reliever Colt Mink. The three pitchers combined to strike out eight and walked none.
Austin Bodrato finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, Mathes was 2-for-5 with two RBI, and Nick Lentz was 1-for-4 with the game winning RBI.
The Saints traveled to Georgia over the weekend and swept South Georgia State College in a double header with wins of 3-2 and 9-2. The wins move SF to 3-0 on the season.
Mitch Campion started game one and went three shutout innings before giving way to Will Whitlock. Whitlock (1-0) tossed three scoreless to keep the shutout going and gave way to Jarrod Cande. SGSC managed two runs on Cande but the freshman was able to get the outs when he needed them, earning the save.
SF (3-0) scored one in the fourth, one in the fifth, and added what would be a much needed insurance run in the seventh. Garrett Mathes, Andrew Eyster, and Mikey Navarrete had one RBI each.
Game two was all Saints as they scored early in the first to grab a 1-0 lead and then added five in the third to make it 6-0. Brock Edge led off the third with a solo homerun, his first of the year. Cade Westbrook knocked Austin Bodrato in with a single for the second run, Jarrod Cande then scored on a passed ball to make it 4-0. Jeff Misener knocked in another run with a RBI single and Haydn Cano capped the scoring by stealing home on a double steal with Misener.
“Our pitching was good again for the second day in a row,” said SF Coach Johnny Wiggs. “We threw seven different guys and all of them handled it pretty well. I was excited to see some better swings, especially in the second game.”
Michael Paul (1-0) earned the win with five innings of two run ball. Cande, Westbrook, and Misener had two hits each and Westbrook had two RBI.
The Saints next game will be at home against Tallahassee CC Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 3 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Monday
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