AVON PARK, Fla. --- Facing two NAIA Top 25 clubs on Thursday, the University of St. Francis baseball team nearly came away with one feather in its cap before No.11 ranked St. Thomas University (Fla.) rallied to win 7-6 on a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh inning in the opening game of the Warner University (Fla.) Tournament. Host and No. 25 ranked Warner followed with a 17-6 victory in Game 2 of the day.

Both Florida teams went to the long ball to gain the victories, producing four home runs each. John McGuire, Luke Ketchum, and Alex Martinez all went deep for the Saints.  Martinez drove in a team-high four runs on the day, while also scoring twice.

Game 1: St. Thomas 7, USF 6
After trailing 2-0 early, the Saints put up a pair of three-spots in the third and fourth innings to take a 6-3 advantage into the bottom of the latter inning. McGuire's first home run of the season got USF on the board and Noah Kararo followed three batter later with a two run single.

After St. Thomas tied the score at three all with its second home run of the game, the Saints and McGuire went right back to work. The sophomore first baseman delivered a two run single this time in the three run fourth inning.

That would wind up being St. Francis' last hit of the game as three different St. Thomas hurlers combined to retire the final ten batters they faced. 

The Bobcats (17-5) got one of the three runs back in the bottom half of the fourth inning before authoring two home runs one batter apart in the fifth inning to tie the score for the second time. An error to open the seventh inning and a passed ball later on set the stage for Alan Caretta's game winning single to center field.

McGuire and Kararo (2 RBI) drove in five of the six runs for the Saints. Brian Garcia went 4 for 5 with two RBI for St. Thomas.

Game 2: Warner 17, USF 6
The Royals (22-6) put up seven runs in the second inning and built a 14-0 lead before the Saints' first run crossed the plate. For the second game in a row, USF (4-13) posted back-to-back three run innings but both came too late. 

Ketchum tied Gio Pappas for the team lead in home runs with his third one of the season to break up the shutout. Alex Martinez followed two batters later with his first home run as a Saint, a two run shot.

Martinez (2-for-2) went on to add two more runs batted in in the sixth inning with his two-out single to close out USF's scoring. 

Eleven different players had hits for the Royals, six of which also had multiple RBIs.

Up Next
USF faces a pair of Midwest brethren in the Warner Tournament on Friday beginning with an 8 am first pitch against Siena Heights University (Mich.). The Saints then wrap up the second day of the tournament with a 6 pm matchup against Concordia University (Mich.).

Live coverage can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with all things USF on Twitter @USFSaints.