St. Johns River Walks Off with Win over Raiders

PALATKA, Fla. – With two outs in the ninth, St. Johns River catcher Jakob Runnels hit a line drive solo home run to left field to lift the Vikings to a 3-2 win over No. 4 Northwest Florida on Thursday.

Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, Reagan Burford tied the game with a two-out double to drive home Austin Turner. The Raiders took the lead in the sixth when Austin Kelly scored on a Seth Williams ground ball.

Thomas Wilhite got the start on the mound and tossed four solid innings striking out three. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits.

St. Johns River drew level in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double.

NWF reliever Joel Sarver surrendered two runs – one earned – on three hits and struck out seven in 4.2 innings.

The Raiders (8-3) return to action at 9 a.m. on Friday against Florence-Darlington.

For more information on Northwest Florida State Athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow the team on Twitter at @NWFRaiders.