March 28, 2015

Gainesville, FL – The NJCAA #1 St. John's River State College Vikings came out of the gates swinging on Saturday in Gainesville, racking up 21 hits in route to an 11-5 victory over the Santa Fe Saints.  The loss drops SF to 21-6 overall and 8-2 in Mid-Florida Conference play.  SJRSC is now 31-5 and 9-1 in the MFC.

Jared Shouppe started things with a bang for the Saints in the first, blasting his third homerun of the season over the right field fence for an early 2-0 Santa Fe lead.

The Vikings got on the board in the second with one run and added a second in the third to tie the score.  SF retook the lead in the bottom of the third but SJRSC bounced right back with two in the fourth for the 4-3 lead.

Shouppe tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a RBI single to make it 4-4.

St. John's River started to pull away when the plated three in the fifth, and two more in the seventh to build their largest lead of the game, 9-4.

The Saints scored one in the seventh on a bases loaded walk, but couldn't cause any more damage as they fell to the top team in the nation, 11-5.

Shouppe paced the offense, finishing 2-for-4 with a homerun and three RBI.  On the other side, Myles Straw had a career game, going 6-for-6 with three RBI and four runs scored.

Tom Watson started on the hill for SF and took the loss, tossing 3.2 innings.  Walker Burgess, Joey Stillwell, and Michael Ray all pitched in relief.

The Saints and Vikings will meet again on Sunday, March 29 in Palatka at 2:00 PM and once more in Palatka on Monday, March 30 at 6:00 PM.  Both games can be heard live at www.sjrvikings.com  

For complete schedules, stats, and more information on Saints Athletics please visit www.santafesaints.com.  To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.

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