YUMA, Ariz.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were tripped up in the NJCAA World Series Semifinals on Friday, falling behind #3 Northwest Florida State 3-0 early on and never catching up in a 3-1 loss to send them to an elimination game Friday night against #9 Wallace State. 

 

In the two teams first meeting since the 2023 National Championship Game, it was Northwest Florida jumping out to an early lead with a 1^st inning solo home run to take a quick 1-0 lead. 

 

The Bucs had a chance to answer in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with two outs, but a lineout to third ended the frame and left the sacks packed with FSW trailing 1-0 after one. 

 

The long ball stung the Bucs again in the 2^nd as the Raiders got their second dinger in as many innings to make it 2-0 and later in the inning a two out single to right plated their third run of the game to give Northwest a 3-0 advantage. 

 

FSW cracked the scoreboard for the first time in the game in the 3^rd as Skylar Brennan and Nicole Edmiaston doubled to make it a 3-1 game, but a strikeout and a pop out on the infield ended the rally with two more runners in scoring position to keep it a 3-1 game at the end of three. 

 

Things settled down from there as both teams went scoreless in the 4^th and 5^th frames to keep it a 3-1 game in favor of Northwest as the teams went to the 6th. 

 

Northwest looked like they were going to extend upon their lead in the 6th, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a single with one out, but Leah Meyer came in out of the FSW bullpen and got a 5-2-3 double play ball to escape the jam and keep it a two run game. 

 

Down to their final three outs, the Bucs put up a fight in the 7^th, loading the bases with two outs before another pop up on the infield ended the threat and the game as Northwest held on to win 3-1. 

 

The Bucs finished the game with 10 runners left on including 7 in scoring position in the defeat. Zoe Yzaguirre suffered her first career loss in the circle, falling to 10-1 on the year after going 4 innings and allowing 6 hits and 3 runs. Lizzy Kwakernaak and Leah Meyer combined for 3 innings of scoreless relief out of the bullpen for FSW. 

 

FSW sees their 15 game winning streak come to an end as they fall to 55-6 on the year while Northwest Florida advances to the National Championship Game for the second time in three years with a 60-4 mark. 

 

The Bucs play for their season Friday night as they square off with #9 Wallace State at 9:00 PM (ET). A win sends FSW to their fourth National Championship Game in five seasons while a loss would bring their 2025 campaign to an end.