Juco World Series: Defending champion SLCC drops tournament opener to Blinn College
Salt Lake Community College drops opener at Juco World Series, falls 13-3 to Blinn College in Grand Junction, Colorado
Members of the Salt Lake Community College baseball team pose for a picture after winning NJCAA West District Championship in Beatrice, Nebraska. | Courtesy SLCC baseball Salt Lake Community College faces an uphill battle to defend the Junior College World Series national championship it won last year. The Bruins were defeated 13-3 by Blinn College of Texas on Saturday afternoon in a first-round game in Grand Junction, Colorado, that was halted after five innings by the mercy rule.
Ninth-seeded SLCC (39-17) drops into the one-loss bracket at Sam Suplizio Field and will play again on Sunday at approximately 7 p. m. MT.
Blinn College, the No. 2 seed, improved to 46-12 and will play again on Monday. Salt Lake opened with three runs in the first inning, but was shut out the rest of the way by Buccaneers pitcher Dylan Thompson and finished with just five hits.
Thompson faced only 21 batters, striking out one (Drew Smith). Blinn pounded out 10 hits against SLCC pitchers Easton Davies, Mason Green and Max Mousser. The #BruCru scored all three of their runs on Lute Chavez’s 3-run homer in the first inning.