A late-game barrage from Lake Land College spoiled Blinn College’s return to the NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series on Saturday at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colo.
The ninth-seeded Lakers rallied out of a five-run deficit and tacked on 12 runs across the final three innings of play to earn a 17-9 win over the second-seeded Buccaneers.
Blinn (46-14) is attempting to repeat as national champions after capturing the program’s first title in 2024 but will now need to navigate the consolation bracket to make it happen. The Bucs will continue their World Series run with an elimination game against third-seeded Florida SouthWestern State College at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The winner of Sunday’s game between Blinn and Florida SouthWestern will advance to battle either Johnson County Community College or Eastern Oklahoma State College in an elimination game at 2 p.m. CT on Monday.
Blinn got out to a great start against Lake Land, rallying out of a 1-0 deficit in the third inning on an RBI double from sophomore and a run-scoring triple from sophomore Lane Allen. The Bucs tacked on two runs in the fourth when sophomore Ryder McDaniel recorded a sacrifice fly and freshman Reece Lunsford grounded an RBI single to center field.
Sophomore Ethan Gonzalez then made it 5-1 in the fifth when he launched a solo home run to left field.
From there, however, the Lakers capitalized on some small ball, using 14 hits – all singles – through six innings to fight back to tie the game in the top of the sixth.
After a Gonzalez RBI single gave Blinn its final lead of the game in the home half of the sixth, Lake Land tied things up once more on a run-scoring wild pitch before using a grand slam to jump ahead for good.
Blinn was unable to regain its early-game offensive prowess, which head coach Dusty Hart said was a result of too many called strikes and not enough big hits in big moments.
“Lake Land made it tough on us; it felt like every time they needed a big hit, they got it,” Hart said. “We had our own chances to break it open early, but we had some loose at bats where we took some big strikeouts, and Lake didn’t, which I thought was the big difference in the game.”
Blinn put together a three-run ninth inning before the Lakers closed out their upset win.
Lake Land out-hit the Bucs 21-15.
Gonzalez had a history-making performance as he finished 6 for 6 with three RBIs. His six hits tied a single-game World Series record set by Walters State’s Tary Scott in 1984.
“I’m having a lot of mixed emotions right now,” Gonzalez said. “What happened tonight is amazing, but we did lose, and to be honest with you, I just want to focus on Sunday already.”
Fryman and sophomore Matt Quintanar each had two hits for the Bucs. Fryman and Allen had two RBIs apiece.
Bucs sophomore pitcher Brok Eddy (10-4) started the game for Blinn and took the loss. He worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed five earned runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Lake Land’s upset of Blinn was just one of four surprising results Saturday.
In the day’s opening matchup, seventh-seeded McLennan Community College upset fourth-seeded Johnson County 14-7. In game two, top-seeded Walters State Community College needed a ninth-inning, walk-off single to earn an 11-10 victory and escape 10th-seeded Eastern Oklahoma State’s upset bid. Following the Blinn-Lake Land game, Florida SouthWestern was routed by eighth-seeded Salt Lake Community College 16-2 in seven innings.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.
