- Senior pitcher Dion Wilburn pitched a complete game with two hits, one walk, and 12 strikeouts to lead Buchholz to a 2-1 win over Santa Fe.
- Buchholz scored early with Zac Brown and Blake Brewer driving in runs, while Santa Fe's Cohen Bennett kept the game close with strong pitching.
- Santa Fe lost its sixth one-run game of the season and will face Buchholz on Saturday at Bobcat Park.
Buchholz took a trip up to Alachua on Friday to play Santa Fe in the first of two meetings between the teams over back-to-back days.
Senior pitcher Dion Wilburn allowed only two hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts and went the distance as Buchholz edged Santa Fe, 2-1.
“When he (Dion) woke up this morning, he didn’t know if he was going to pitch or not due to flu-like symptoms,” Buchholz coach Chris Malphurs said. “It was a four o’clock type decision if he was going to go and we were going to keep him on a pretty tight pitch count. The game was tight and he kept wanting to go out there.”
Buchholz (10-6) took the lead right away in the top of the first. Senior leadoff hitter Zac Brown singled and eventually scored on an infield single by senior Blake Brewer for a 1-0 Bobcats lead.
Buchholz had plenty of opportunities to add to the lead, but Santa Fe senior starter Cohen Bennett worked out of multiple jams to keep the Raiders within a run.
“If you look at his (Bennett’s) numbers, you aren’t going to get big-eyed or amazed by them,” Santa Fe coach Kyle Brooks said. “If you watch the guy pitch, he’s been unbelievable. He’s cool, calm, and collected, he trusts his stuff and he trusts the guys behind him.”
Bennett worked out of a runner at third and one-out jam in the second inning and a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the third inning to keep Santa Fe within one run.
In fact, Buchholz had 10 hits and left 11 men on base for the game, but they did get an insurance run against reliever Jackson Ruppert in the sixth as Ashton Norris singled in Hudson Sapp for a 2-0 Bobcats lead.
Meanwhile, Wilburn was rolling. He retired the first 12 Santa Fe hitters he faced with five strikeouts.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a game where we had 10 hits and only scored two runs,” Malphurs said. “It was a weird-type night, just couldn’t get that timely hit. But give our kids credit, they kept battling and got that late run and stayed ahead and got the win.”
Santa Fe got its only run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Ruppert singled and scored on a passed ball. But Wilburn struck out the final five Raiders’ batters for the complete game win.
Santa Fe falls to 4-13 with their sixth one-run loss of the season and third one-run defeat in a row.
“The one-run losses are haunting us right now,” Brooks said. “But we are getting better as a team and the goal is to get better by the end of the year. We are going to get over the hump and when we do, we could be a scary team.”
Santa Fe and Buchholz play again at noon on Saturday at Bobcat Park.
