For the first time in program history, Florida SouthWestern Baseball is headed to Grand Junction.
The No. 6 Buccaneers rallied past No. 24 Central Florida 6–5 Tuesday in the FCSAA Championship, securing a spot in the NJCAA Division I World Series.
“This is my first collegiate year playing,” said freshman pitcher Nicholas Lorenz, who earned the save. “Just to have a team like this, a family, a brotherhood — this is just, college baseball dream.”
After falling behind 3–1, FSW tied it on a wild pitch and took the lead on Devin Parks’ two-run double in the fourth. Central Florida responded with two runs in the fifth to go back in front, but Michael McAloose crushed a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Bucs a 6–5 lead.
Redshirt sophomore infielder Nik Periera said the win validated everything the team worked for since the fall.
“It feels amazing,” Periera said. “We set out this goal at the start of the fall, and then to be ranked so high preseason — to do what was expected of us, it takes a lot. And I couldn’t be more proud.”
FSW (44-15) sealed the win with Lorenz striking out the final batter, Dawson Harmon, the FCSAA State Player of the Year.
“We just didn’t want to give him anything too good to hit,” Periera said. “So we just executed a great pitch, and luckily, he swung at it.”
Head coach Zac Cole said this team never stops fighting.
“We lost the first game of our regional, so we had our backs up against the wall,” Cole said. “That’s been our M.O. all year. You can’t count this team out. They’re going to fight, they’re going to scrape, they’re going to claw, they’re going to do whatever it takes.”
“I told them before the game, I wanted this to be the team that took it to Grand Junction for the first time,” he added. “I’m so glad they got it done.”
Cole said the Bucs will take a couple of days to rest before shifting their focus to Colorado.
“This is the toughest tournament to win in junior college baseball outside of the World Series,” he said. “We had to battle three times with Central Florida this weekend. They deserve some much-needed downtime after that one.”
The NJCAA Division I World Series starts on May 24.
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