Warriors win Game One in Championship Chase

The Nelson Warriors are moving on!

After falling behind 3-0 early, the Warriors erupted for a thrilling 11-5 victory over the Ohio Christian Trailblazers in their opening game of the 2026 NCCAA Baseball World Series.

The comeback began in the bottom of the third. Aaron Bazan was hit by a pitch, Gerardo Paco and Sam Hess singled to load the bases, and after a double-play grounder scored Bazan, Jimmy Holloway's grounder up the middle was misplayed, allowing Paco to score and making it 3-2.

In the fourth, poor fielding by Ohio Christian continued to haunt them. Adrian Nunez reached on an error, Shae Doree doubled, and Josue Franco Jr. delivered a clutch two-run single to give Nelson their first lead at 4-3.

Ohio Christian briefly regained the lead with two runs in the fifth, but the Warriors answered with a massive four-run inning. Ethan Gustafson crushed a game-tying solo homer to deep left-center. The bases were then loaded, and Shae Doree delivered a two-run double. Franco Jr. capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, putting Nelson ahead 8-5.

In the later innings, the Warriors kept pouring it on. Gustafson scored on a balk in the sixth, and Sam Hess launched a two-run homer in the seventh to extend the lead to six runs. Matthew Schulz pitched three clean innings of relief to close out the victory.

With the victory, the Warriors advance to face the #1-seed University of Fort Lauderdale later today in the winner's bracket.

One game down, one win!

Fans can follow all live stats, box scores, and tournament updates here:

https://thenccaa.org/tournaments/?id=4900&path=baseball

Do not forget to follow Nelson Athletics on X at @NelsonWarriors and Instagram at @nelsonwarriors.athletics.