Patriots Take Two from Santa Fe

Patriots Take Two from Santa Fe

The College of Central Florida Patriots ran their current winning streak to seven games when they swept a doubleheader from the Santa Fe College Saints in Gainesville on Monday afternoon. Game 1 was the conclusion of a suspended game from March 9th where the Pats were leading 9-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Saints rallied for four runs and had the tying run at second base with two outs in the ninth inning when Connor Godwin struck out Jacob Guthrie to give the Pats the 9-7 win. John Marant led the charge going 4 for 4 with a double, home run and four RBI. Caleb Cali added a home run and three RBI, while Nicholas Calero added two hits and scored three runs. Mason Ronan earned the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. Ronan tossed 5.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, 3 runs and striking out 8 batters.

In Game 2 the Patriots used the combination of clutch hitting and some wild pitching from the Saints to win 13-5. Calero started the clutch hitting when he singled with two outs in the third inning to drive home two runs and give the Pats a 2-0 lead. A solo home run by the Saints' Bret Madren closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning. CF would score five times in the top of the fifth inning, three on wild pitches by the Saints and two on a single by Jackson Taylor to make it a 7-1 game. Santa Fe's Tyler Shelnut hit the first of his two home runs on the day to make it a 7-3 game in the bottom of the fifth inning. A walk by Taylor and back-to-back doubles by Kevin Kilpatrick and John Marant pushed the Pats to a 9-3 lead. Cali then delivered his ninth home run of the season over the left field fence to make it an 11-3 game. Shelnut's second home run made it 11-5. The Patriots would add two more runs when Calero scored on an error and Carson Bayne doubled home Spencer Stephens.

Aaron Combs started for the Pats and went 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits, 3 runs and striking out 5 Saints. Combs improved to 5-2 on the season. Riley Huge earned his second save of the season throwing 3 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 runs and striking out 6.

The Patriots have now won 16 out of their last 17 games and are currently in first place in the Mid-Florida Conference with a 15-2 record. Their overall record is 29-13.

The Patriots and Saints will meet for the final time this season on Wednesday, April 6th, 3:00 PM at Goodlett Field in Ocala.