Grifol and the #1 Saints Take Series Opener From TCC, 8-3
February 25, 2011
February 25, 2011 Contact: Scott Jamison 352-395-5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SF BASEBALL
#1 SAINTS TAKE OPENER OF THREE GAME SERIES AGAINST TCC, 8-3
Tallahassee, FL – The FCCAA #1 Santa Fe Saints (15-3-1) continued their winning ways on Friday afternoon at Tallahassee CC, pulling out an 8-3 victory, the team's sixth in a row. SF remains undefeated on the road this season at 7-0.
Malcolm Clapsaddle (4-0) picked up the win, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit. It was predetermined before the game that he would pitch less than five innings thus allowing him to earn the win. Jarrod Carlton pitched 3.1 hitless innings in relief and Steven Ragans threw the final two innings, surrendering three runs in the ninth, two of them earned.
The Saints got on the board first, scoring one run in the second on a sacrifice fly by TJ Spina. They added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Andrew Grifol and two more runs in the sixth on a sac fly by Spina and a double steal that scored Jake Huxtable from third to make the score 4-0.
In the seventh inning Santa Fe scored twice without recording a hit. Jay LAurienzo led off and was hit by a pitch, Garrett Greenwell reached on an error and Zach Taylor knocked Laurienzo home on a fielder's choice. Two batters later Nathan Bandy pinch hit and drove in the sixth run of the game on a sac fly.
Andrew Grifol (4) padded the score with a deep homerun to center field in the eighth and Garrett Greenwell (2) put an exclamation point on the win with a first pitch blast to right field in the ninth.
TCC rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the ninth but it was too little too late as Steven Ragans closed out the Saints' FCCAA and NJCAA leading fifteenth win of the year.
“We played very well today,” said SF coach Johnny Wiggs. “Malcolm [Clapsaddle] and Jarrod [Carlton] pitched great and we played good defense. It was a great all-around game and I'm very proud of our effort.”
Andrew Grifol led the offensive charge, going 2-for-5 with a double, homerun and two RBI, increasing his total to 27, the most in the nation. Zach Taylor finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, Garrett Greenwell was 1-for-2 with a homerun and two runs scored and TJ Spina had two RBI. The Saints had 10 hits in all and allowed only four, three of which came in the ninth inning.
The Saints and Eagles continue their three game series tomorrow with a double header scheduled for 1:00 PM. Fans can follow the action via a live blog at www.tcceagles.com.
For complete schedules and more information on Saints Baseball, please visit santafesaints.com. To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.
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