Advertisement

NJCAA baseball: Central Florida comes up short vs. No. 1 team, faces elimination game next

College of Central Florida baseball team with state championship medals.
College of Central Florida baseball team with state championship medals.

The College of Central Florida baseball team hit four home runs, but it wasn’t enough, as the fourth-seeded Patriots fell to No. 1 Walters State, 16-8, in the second game for each team in the NJCAA Division I World Series at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Co. on Monday night.

CF (47-16) got homers from Kevin Kilpatrick, Caleb Cali, Victor Castillo and Carson Bayne, and the four of them combined to go 9-for-13 with seven RBI.

Back in the Series: Central Florida Patriots to make first JUCO World Series appearance in 24 years

First game: College of Central Florida baseball opens NJCAA Division I World Series with victory

The Senators (59-5) fell behind 2-0 after one inning, but used a 7-run fourth and a 4-run seventh to earn the win. Noah Gent (3-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2B), Dalton McLain (3-for-4, 4 runs, RBI) and Andrew Ott (2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2B) paced Walters State.

Joey Mitchell struck out three and allowed three earned runs to pick up the win in 4.1 innings of relief for the Senators, while reliever Sam Swygert struck out two and allowed three runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings to take the loss.

The Patriots will return to action on Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Cowley County Community College, the team CF beat 8-2 on the first day of the World Series. The Tigers (52-10) bounced back from that loss to defeat Hartford Community College, 12-4, on Sunday and McLennan Community College, 10-8, on Monday.

The loser of the game will be eliminated from the tournament.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: College baseball: Central Florida loses to top team, still alive in NJCAA