After an ugly 16-10 loss to Gulf Coast Community College on Friday, Santa Fe Community College baseball coach Johnny Wiggs challenged Saturday's starting pitcher Andy Mee to set the tone and turn things around for the Saints' pitching staff.
Mee stepped up and did just that, throwing six shutout innings and striking out seven to lead SFCC (7-3) to an 8-2 win over South Florida Community College (4-6).
"(Wiggs) kind of put me on the spot," Mee said, "but I think it worked pretty good in terms of getting me focused. I knew I had to come out here and pitch my best and throw all of my pitches for strikes."
Mee (1-1), who plays right field when not on the mound, leads the Saints with a 2.08 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.
Freshman right-hander Matthew Hinkle pitched the final three innings and gave up two runs on three hits to earn his first career save.
Wiggs said he was pleased with the performance of his two pitchers, as well as the defense.
The Saints' pitching staff gave up 31 runs in its last two games, and errors had contributed to the pitching troubles. On Saturday, SFCC played error-free baseball and only gave up one walk, underscoring Wiggs' philosophy of not helping the other team or giving them "freebies."
Offensively, it was sophomore center fielder Eugene Garnett who powered the Saints, going 2 for 4 with a grand slam, five RBI and two runs scored. After leading off the game with a single, Garnett later came around to score on a two-out single by freshman infielder Mike Miranda.
In the second inning, freshman outfielder Nathan Hartman lead off with a walk, followed by a single by freshman catcher Callahan Hood and a one-out bunt single by freshman shortstop Cody Trump. Garnett then crushed an outside fastball over the right field fence to put the Saints up 5-0. That would be all the offense SFCC needed, though Garnett added another run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
"I was just trying to help my team rebound from (Friday) and that tough loss," Garnett said. "It was kind of a shot to our pride, really. Coach said the other team was playing with more energy and that you could tell they were competing a lot more than us, so today we just had to strike back."
Garnett also provided a lift for his team in the outfield, running down five long-fly balls that threatened to drop in.
"He's definitely our spark plug," Wiggs said. "He can really be a difference-maker and a game-changer with his speed and athleticism, on both sides of the ball. It's huge for him to be successful for us."
The Saints held a 10-9 lead going into the seventh inning in Friday's game against Gulf Coast, but the Commodores exploded for seven runs in the inning to take the lead for good.
SFCC was led by Mee (2 for 5 with two RBI), Garnett (2 for 4 with two RBI and two runs) and sophomore outfielder Cody Trump (2 for 4 with three RBI and two runs).
Sophomore right-hander Carrick Tuck (1-1) took the loss for SFCC.
The Saints will face Hillsborough Community College Monday at 3 p.m. Sophomore lefty John Lambert (1-0) will get the start.
