LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The University of St. Francis baseball team appeared to be on the verge of upsetting No. 3-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College on Sunday afternoon until a two-out, walk-off grand slam ended a productive day at the plate for the Fighting Saints in a 13-9, 12-inning setback. 

A total of 23 hits were registered between the two squads with each team recording 11 hits and nine runs through the first 11 innings of play.  The 23rd and final hit would be the most decisive one, however, with GGC's Paul Winland Jr. playing the villain with his bases-clearing shot over the centerfield wall.  The loss was the sixth of the year for the Saints, dropping their overall record to 3-6.

Georgia Gwinnett (16-2) put the first run of the game on the board in the first inning when a lead-off triple turned into a run for the hosts after a fielder's choice in the next at-bat scored Jon Ponder.  St. Francis responded with its own run-scoring fielder's choice in the second inning to take the lead after the Saints tied the game one batter earlier on a wild pitch.  Mitchell Thomas would later knock in the last run of the frame for the Saints with a single up the middle to score Max Montgomery, giving USF a 3-1 lead.

St. Francis would extend its lead to 5-1 in the sixth inning before the Grizzlies plated a total of six runs in the bottom half of that stanza.  Two free passes from the USF pitching staff followed by four straight hits sparked the home team's rally before an error resulted in an eventual sacrifice fly for the final run in the inning.  The Grizzlies, in fact, rallied from behind no less than three separate times on the day to keep their seven-game winning streak intact with game-tying runs in the eight and eleventh innings to go along with their six-run sixth inning.

In the seventh inning, Jake Klepacz scored the Saints' sixth run of the day after circling the bases on three straight wild pitches after drawing a two-out walk.  In the eighth, Brayan Hidalgo knotted the score at 7-7 with a lead-off home run to centerfield before Montgomery (walk) scored his second run of the game after a fielder's choice off the bat of Nate Maliska.  That gave the Saints an 8-7 lead.

The game stayed locked at 8-8 until the eleventh inning when St. Francis would take its third lead of the game on a Cliff Vickers single to centerfield to drive in Klepacz, who reached base after getting hit with a pitch.  A RBI double by Georgia Gwinnett in the bottom of the frame would tie the game for the fifth time, setting the stage for the dramatics in the twelfth. 

Klepacz, Jake Merda, Vickers and Hidalgo each had two hits on the day for the Saints, while Vickers and Hidalgo both knocked in two runs.  Montgomery drew three walks as part of his 1-for-2, one-RBI showing at the plate, and Klepacz scored a career-high four runs.

Up Next
The Saints will travel to Montreat, N.C. to take the field again Monday (March 3) when they face the Cavaliers of Montreat College.  First pitch will commence at 1 pm CST.

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