No. 21 Lakehawk Baseball’s Blackburn Walks Off No. 19 CF

LEESBURG, Fla. (Baseball) – No. 21 Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) baseball defeated No. 19 (NJCAA DI) College of Central Florida (CF) 6-5 in walk-off fashion on Tuesday afternoon. A single to centerfield from Mason Blackburn secured the second cross-division top-25 win in the last seven days for the Lakehawks.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Tad Brooks led off the inning with an infield hit followed by walks from Christian Cantwell and Ean Gimson.

With the bases loaded, Ryan Villaman sent a base hit to right field to score Brooks. Next up, Osjun Rivas took a pitch to the left shoulder allowing Cantwell to score and tie the score at 2-2.

The Lakehawks took the lead in the seventh after a pair of walks from Riley Fitzgerald and Eli Thurmond. Matthew Dumas continued his clutch hitting at the plate with a single to right field to score Fitzgerald.

The Lakehawks attemped a squeeze bunt, but Thumond was called out at home. Then, a fielder's choice on an infield groundball allowed Dumas to score from third for a 4-2 lead.

The Patriots tied the score back up in the top of the eighth with a two-run homerun.

The Lakehawks took the lead back 5-4 after a bases loaded fielder's choice hit up the middle from Dumas allowed Camden Williamson to score from third.

CF tied the score at 5-5 once again in the top of the ninth giving Lake-Sumter one more chance to take the lead.

Cantwell led the bottom of the ninth off with a single to centerfield and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt place by Villaman. The Patriots then intentionally walked Gimson to put runners on first and second.

Blackburn stepped up with a single up the middle scoring Cantwell from second for a 6-5 win to walk off the game.

Efforts from six Lakehawk pitchers gave the team a win on Tuesday.

Bryan Burtoft recorded the "W" after taking the mound in the seventh inning to close out the non-conference contest. His record improves to 2-0 on the season with the final inning pitched.

Lake-Sumter improves to a 25-14 overall record while CF moves to 27-11 on the season.

The Lakehawks will continue Sun-Lakes Conference action on Friday, Apr. 4 against No. 1 Pasco-Hernando State College. The series opener is set for 1:00 p.m. at The Hawks Nest.

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