WICHITA, Kan. – The eighth-seeded KCKCC baseball team faced elimination on Thursday afternoon, but survived against No. 5 seed Cloud County by winning 11-3 at Eck Stadium.

The Blue Devils improve to 38-22 overall on the year.

KCKCC jumped ahead 2-1 after the first inning after Jase Woita hit a two-run home run for the Blue Devils. The team added another three runs in the second inning when Jett Buck snuck a hit down the right field line for three RBI – scoring Gehrig Goldbeck, Matthew Buffington and Brady Patterson.

The Thunderbirds put up a pair of runs in the fourth to cut the Blue Devil lead to 5-3. However, a five-run sixth and one run in the eighth inning helped the Blue Devils secure the win. Goldbeck knocked in a run in the sixth after he was hit by a pitch, while Jackson Mervosh capped off the inning with an RBI single to score Buck.

Mervosh led the team with three hits. Buck and Woita each had three RBI, while Zachary DeFreece threw six innings to earn his fifth win of the season.

KCKCC will play on Friday at 10 a.m. in another elimination game against either Butler or Johnson County.