The College of Central Florida Patriots grabbed the lead late in their 6-5 win over the St. John's River State College Vikings in Palatka on Tuesday evening. CF was down 5-3 in the top of the seventh inning when Victor Martinez hit a 3-run home run to put the Pats up 6-5. It was Martinez's 7th home run of the season.

The Pats had built an early lead scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Jacob McKenzie and Anthony Diaz had run scoring singles to make it 2-0. McKenzie would later score on a wild pitch for the third run.

The Vikings (20-18) finally got to Pats starter, Kohl Kilcrease in the fourth inning. Jan Oquendo led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season for St. John's River's first hit and first run. A Ben Barrow double and a sacrifice fly by Padric Smith tied the game at 3-3. Kilcrease finished the game throwing five innings,allowing four hits, three runs with eight strikeouts. Three hit by pitches and two walks by CF pitching in the sixth inning allowed the Vikings to take a 5-3 lead. That lead was short lived as Martinez's heroics came in the seventh.

A combination of Karson Lindsey (1.1 IP, 0H, 0R, 2K, W), Miles Curley (1.1 IP, 0H, 0R), and Arturo Ormaza (0.2 IP, H, 0R, K, Save) shutout the Vikings over the final three innings.

The #11 NJCAA ranked Patriots (26-8, 11-7) start a crucial Citrus Conference series on Thursday, 5:00 PM in Bradenton versus the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (23-12, 11-7). Both the Pats and Manatees are tied for second place in the conference with Florida Southwestern State and Polk State.