PALATKA- The College of Central Florida baseball team battled hard against St. Johns River State, but fell 3-2 on Monday evening.

John Cassala hit a solo homer in the top of the second inning, but the Vikings took the lead for good with three runs in their half of the frame.

From there, CF got a run back in the fourth, but couldn't overtake SJRSC.

Cassala (2-for-4, run scored, RBI) and Bradley Felkel (1-for-2, RBI) paced the Patriots at the plate.

Jacob Grenus, Robby Frantzis and Ryan Knowles combined for nine strikeouts and limited the Vikings to four hits. 

It was the second straight one-run loss in Mid-Florida Conference play for the Patriots.

CF (16-10, 0-4) hosts St. Johns River for Game 2 of the series today at 3 p.m.