BLINN BASEBALL SWEEPS ALVIN ON FRIDAY
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The Blinn College baseball team is officially on a roll.
The Buccaneers claimed both ends of their doubleheader against Alvin Community College on Friday to complete a three-game sweep of the Dolphins and give themselves 10 victories in their past 11 games.
The 14-4 (six innings) and 11-3 (eight innings) Region XIV South wins at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas, pushed Blinn's winning streak to four.
The Bucs improved to 21-12 overall and 13-4 in the South standings, where they share first place with San Jacinto College-North.
"We seem to be coming together as a team; they're coming together and improving consistently, which is what you want at this time of the year," Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. "I thought we played about as well as we could. We finally put all three phases together in this series with pitching, defense, and hitting."
Blinn outscored Alvin 31-9 during the series and capped the offensive onslaught with 23 hits, 14 walks, and five home runs Friday.
In game one of the twin bill, the Dolphins led 4-2 heading into the third inning, but the Bucs totaled 12 runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth frames to enforce the run rule.
Sophomore Cade Climie hit his first of two homers on the day to start the game-tying rally in the third frame before freshman Ethan Gonzalez made it 4-4 with an RBI single.
Sophomore Tony Vernars hit a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth, and Gonzalez later came to the plate with the bases loaded and cleared them with a double to give Blinn an 8-4 cushion.
Freshman Caden Ferraro, who also hit two homers. mashed a three-run blast in the fifth to make it 11-4. Ferraro walked with the bases loaded in the sixth and sophomore Marshall Lipsey added a two-run single to close out the game.
"Offensive consistency takes time, and this group has a chance to be a pretty special offense," Hart added. "When we take pitches and make the other team throw strikes, we can be so dangerous. You can tell every day that our lineup's confidence is growing."
Lipsey and Gonzalez finished with three hits apiece, while Gonzalez paced Blinn with five RBIs. Ferraro finished with two hits and drove in four runs.
The Bucs drew eight walks as a team.
On the mound, freshman Lucas Davenport improved to 2-2 with five innings of work. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and struck out four without issuing a walk. Sophomore Bryson Dudley worked around a single in the top of the sixth to pitch a scoreless inning of relief.
"Davenport ran into some trouble early, but he did a really good job of making adjustments and settling in," Hart explained. "Once he did that it allowed our hitters to relax and score some runs."
Game two saw the Buccaneers build a big advantage early while sophomore pitcher Brendan Sweeney cruised to complete the sweep.
Blinn scored all of the runs it would need in the first frame, with Climie kicking things off with a two-run double. After Ferraro walked, Lipsey smacked a three-run homer to right field.
A three-run third inning began with a solo shot from Climie and continued when Ferraro scored on a passed ball and Gonzalez singled in Vernars.
Ferraro sent a two-run homer to center field to make it 10-1 in the fourth. Sophomore Brandon Bishop ended the game with an RBI single in the eighth.
Climie, Ferraro, Bishop, and sophomore Connor McGinnis finished with two hits apiece.
Sweeney earned the win with five innings of one-run ball. He gave up five hits, walked one, and fanned three. Sophomore pitchers Ben Bosse and Cortt Gentry, along with freshman Caden Marcum, combined for three innings of two-run relief. Gentry struck out three Dolphins in the eighth.
"Pitching is where it has to start," said Hart. "You have to be able to pitch because it's a lot easier to beat teams 3-0 than it is 15-12. Davenport and Sweeney are as durable as you could ask for and they're going to keep us in games. They're both just so consistent and don't make a lot of mistakes. Then the guys out of our bullpen come in and do a tremendous job for us. I'm glad they're all on our side."
Next up for the Bucs is a four-game Region XIV South set with Coastal Bend College. The series opens at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, at Leroy Dreyer Field. The two teams will face off at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, and finish up with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, in Brenham.
"We've put our destiny in our own hands. If we want to win the conference, we've put ourselves in a position to do that," Hart said. "If we just take care of business, we'll win the conference. Will that be easy? Of course not. Baseball is not easy. We just have to keep our heads on straight and play hard."