The Santa Fe Baseball Team took the field Friday afternoon. Coming off a loss to Polk State College, the No. 16 Saints hosted St. Petersburg, which ultimately saw the Saints come away with a victory after a stellar outing from Pitcher Trent Becker and the team’s bats. Santa Fe continues its season with a record of 6-4.
What Went Down
It was a tight ballgame to start with strong pitching performances from both sides. Santa Fe struck first in the bottom of the 4th with a solo shot from Gabriel Esquivel, his sixth of the season, to take the lead. This was the start of a strong run for the Saints. In the same inning, Santa Fe drove in two more runs through a two-RBI triple from Jake McKee.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Saints continued its tear by adding five more runs to take an 8-0 lead. Esquivel once again started the rally with an RBI double to bring in Jevin Relaford for the score. Santiago Garavito then hit an RBI single followed by three more runs through two errors from the Titans.
Some pictures from today’s Santa Fe baseball game vs St. Petersburg @santafesaints pic.twitter.com/zXPVYWq2ss
— Perry Yalkut (@perry_yalkut) February 12, 2022
By the bottom of the 7th, the Saints padded to their lead to 11-0. Garavito hit an RBI double followed by another from JP Herrholz to start the inning. With the bases loaded, Zeth Rodriguez brought in another run via hit by pitch to cap off the Saints’ night.
St. Petersburg spoiled the shut out with a solo shot in the bottom of the 9th. However, the Saints looked impressive overall and advanced to 6-4 on the season.
No. 16 ranked Saints handle Titans 11-1 pic.twitter.com/STisRroi6h
— Perry Yalkut (@perry_yalkut) February 12, 2022
Notable Stats
Starting Pitcher Trent Becker had a stellar performance for the Saints, tossing 7 shut-out innings with 8 strikeouts, matching his career and season-high, four hits, one walk, and no runs allowed.
Santa Fe ended the game with 12 hits with four players having multi-hit efforts. JP Herrholz was hot, going 3 of 4 with two runs scored, an RBI double, and a walk. Esquivez also had an impressive outing, going 2 of 3 with a solo homer and an RBI double.
Becker was charged with the win, his second of the season.
Coming Up
No. 16 Santa Fe (6-4) looks to carry its momentum on the road Saturday, Feb 12 in a doubleheader against South Florida State College.