Maybe it was the change in time zones, but the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team had to have a late wakeup call in California for its first game of NAIA postseason play at the Santa Barbara Opening Round.

The offense and strong pitching woke up to carry the Grizzlies to the program's first national championship.

GGCAthletics.com's Road to Lewiston series is looking back at the significant team and individual moments that played a vital role in bring forth the program's first national title.

The tournament's No. 1 seeded team found itself trailing 5-0 following five solo home runs by No. 4 seed University of Saint Katherine (California). Things changed with two mighty swings of the bat in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Senior Griffin Keller connected on a three-run home run before junior Gabe Howell tied the game at 5-5 with a solo homer later in the frame. Then, junior Nick Barnes gave GGC an 8-5 lead with a three-run home run to cap an eight-run offensive explosion.

Keller and Barnes would each hit another home run an inning later as the Grizzlies built a commanding lead in the 13-5 victory.

Seven of the nine hitters in the lineup would collect at least one hit in the team's 13-hit offensive attack. Leadoff hitter Austin Bates and Barnes paced the way with each collecting three hits, while Keller and Howell each had two hits.

The productive lineup would help lead the Grizzlies to win nine of their 10 NAIA postseason games, scoring 10 or more runs against five opponents.

Georgia Gwinnett College won 22 of its final 23 games, including an 8-4 victory against Central Methodist University (Missouri) to capture the national title. The team concluded the 2021 season with a 51-10 record.