BUCS BASEBALL FINISHES WITH WIN AT SAN JAC TOURNAMENT

Blinn finishes strong to beat Grayson to cap San Jacinto Tournament of Champions, 11-5

Buccaneers end tournament with a 1-3 record

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Blinn College baseball was able to finish off the San Jacinto Tournament of Champions strong with an 11-5 victory over Grayson College Sunday afternoon.

The Buccaneers lost to New Mexico Junior College 10-8 earlier in the day to cap the weekend with a 1-3 record. Blinn moves to 3-5 overall.

New Mexico 10 – Blinn 8

Blinn and New Mexico went back and forth all game but the Buccaneers were unable to catch up in the final innings in a 10-8 loss to open the day.

Colton Parrish brought in two runs with a triple and a single while Trent Murphy also brought in a pair of runs with a double. Marshall Skinner had a double and a single and drove in a run while Sam McElreath also had an RBI with a double in the loss.

Will Floyd came on in relief and retired the final seven batters to give Blinn a chance in the final innings.

Blinn got off to a fast start in the first inning when Murphy started the game by drawing a walk and eventually scoring on a passed ball for a 1-0 lead. Anthony Jones, who singled following the walk by Murphy, scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 Blinn lead after a half inning.

The Buccaneers continued rolling in the second inning with a two-out rally started when McElreath was hit by a pitch and Koby Collins reached on an error. Murphy brought in both with a double to left for a 4-0 advantage. New Mexico would storm back to score four in the bottom of the second and two more in the third to take a 6-4 lead.

Blinn fought back in the fifth inning when Jones started it off by getting hit by a pitch. Jones later scored on a RBI single by Skinner to left to get within 6-5. Parrish was able to tie the game at 6-6 with an RBI bunt placed in the infield to score Skinner. New Mexico came back scoring one in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a 10-6 lead.

Blinn didn’t go down without a fight as Angel De La Fuente drew a one-out walk and scored on a RBI triple by Parrish to get within 10-7. McElreath followed by pulling a double to right to score a run to get the Buccaneers within 10-8. Unfortunately, that would be the final runs scored as New Mexico held on for the two-run victory.

Blinn 11 – Grayson 5

Blinn was able to score the final six runs to break open a 5-5 tie to earn an 11-5 victory over Grayson to finish the San Jacinto Tournament of Champions off strong.

Johnny Rizer led the way with a 3-for-4 game with a triple and two singles while driving in four runs. Parrish went 3-for-5 with a double and two singles while driving in a pair of runs. Skinner went 4-of-5 with a solo home run and three singles.

Andrew Morgan picked up the win on the mound after pitching 5 1-3 innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out two. Kyle Gray and Cody Van Cleave each pitched a scoreless inning in relief to finish off the win.

Blinn got off to a fast start after Rizer walked with two outs and scored on a RBI single by De La Fuente to left for a 1-0 lead. Parrish followed with a RBI single to right for a 2-0 lead. Grayson countered with three runs in the second to take a 3-2 lead.

Rizer was able to get back the lead for Blinn with a three-run triple to right to score Connor Whitaker, Collins and Jones to take a 5-3 lead. Grayson bounced back with two runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-5 lead.

Blinn reacted by scoring the final six runs of the game to take the lead for good. Starting in the bottom in the fifth when Skinner nailed a solo home run to left for a 6-5 lead. The Buccaneers kept the offense going in the seventh when Parrish grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Rizer for a 7-5 lead. Tyler Fowler drove in the eighth run with an RBI single to right then Whitaker capped the scoring with an RBI single to right for a 9-5 lead.

Blinn kept the scoring going in the eighth when Jones singled with one out and scored on an RBI single by Rizer to left to boost the lead to 10-5. Rizer later scored on a wild pitch to cap the scoring at 11 as the Buccaneers held on for the six-run victory.

Blinn will be back home on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Leroy Dreyer Field to face TCS Post Grad Academy at 3 p.m.

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(Courtesy, Jake Gordon, Blinn Information)