BLINN BASEBALL OPENS SEASON WITH A SWEEP OVER TEMPLE

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

Top-ranked Blinn College baseball's 2025 season got off to a start fit for a defending national champion.

The Buccaneers welcomed Temple College to town for a doubleheader on Saturday and picked up exactly where they left off in 2024, beginning their post-championship campaign with 19-9 and 4-3 victories over the Leopards at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.

"Any time you go home with two wins, you feel good about what you did at the ballpark," Bucs third-year head coach Dusty Hart said. "We have a lot of things to work on – which is what this time of the year is for – but we fought through some mental and physical mistakes and showed how gritty and resilient we are today."

Hart led Blinn to its first national title in his second year with the program last season and is hoping to keep the Bucs sailing in the right direction after graduating most of that championship roster.

Blinn seemed unbothered by the task against Temple, starting with the big win in the seven-inning opener.

The Bucs pounded out 17 hits and drew 11 walks, leaving plenty of room for error for a brand new pitching staff looking to carve an early-season groove.

A five-run first inning put Blinn in control permanently, and the Bucs followed that outburst with a three-run second, a run in the third, and seven more in the fourth for a 16-2 cushion.

Blinn's three runs in the home half of the sixth capped the scoring for both teams.

The Bucs tallied five extra-base hits, including home two-run homer for sophomore Lane Allen in the second frame and a solo shot for freshman Reece Lunsford in the sixth. Sophomores Caden Ferraro and Matt Quintanar doubled for Blinn and sophomore Bennett Fryman tripled.

"It was a good day for the offense," Quintanar said. "Guys had good at bats, took some pitches and got good pitches to hit and kept the lineup rolling. Really good start for us."

After being shut out through the first three innings, Temple rallied for two runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the sixth, coming as close as 16-9 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

The Bucs tacked on three insurance runs in their half of the sixth on Lunsford's longball, an RBI single from freshman Benji Berrera, and an RBI base hit from freshman Trey Craig.

On the day, Berrera led Blinn with four hits, followed by three for Quintanar and two apiece for Fryman, Craig, and freshman Brady Sullivan. Quintanar, Fryman, and Berrara had three RBIs apiece, while Allen and freshman Drew Britton each added two.

Starting on the mound for the Bucs was freshman Brok Eddy, who earned the victory in his first collegiate appearance.

Eddy blanked the Leopards for three frames before leaving with one out in the fourth. Relying heavily on his fastball with a slider and curveball mixed in, Eddy surrendered two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

"It's definitely an honor to get the start for the national champs of JUCO," Eddy said. "I just wanted to go out and have a good start, throw strikes, get the boys rolling, and get the confidence going. It was a fun time being out there with an offense that gets you a bunch of runs; it makes you want to be out there on the mound and really builds your confidence."

Freshman Ben Polleschultz worked 1 1/3 innings of relief, while sophomore Reece Wagner got the final out of the fifth. 

Then, in the sixth, after Temple pulled to within 16-9, Blinn's feel-good story of the year took the mound. 

Sophomore Hunter Bound made his collegiate return after missing the 2024 campaign with a near-career-ending injury. Bond was a pivotal piece of the Bucs' bullpen during their run to the 2023 JUCO World Series and made a triumphant comeback Saturday.

Bond, a native of nearby College Station, Texas, pitched two perfect innings, getting a flyout to start his stint before striking out the final five hitters he faced to end the game.

"It's surreal," Bond said. "I didn't think I'd ever be back here after my injury, but I give all the credit to God, my coaches, and my teammates for believing in me and giving me another chance to be out here. It's unbelievable and hard to put the emotions into words. Once I got on the mound, I did my best to bottle all that stuff up and just play the game of baseball. My stuff felt good – maybe even better than it was in 2023 – and I had lots of confidence out there. Excited to be back."

In game two, Blinn earned the win in walk-off fashion after trailing twice in the ballgame.

Temple came out swinging, taking a lead in the first inning against Bucs freshman starting pitcher Hayden Morris.

Blinn answered in the bottom of the first on an RBI double from Quintanar and inched ahead 2-1 in the second when sophomore Ethan Gonzalez scored Berrera with a sacrifice fly.

The Leopards tied the game in the fourth and pulled ahead 3-2 in the fifth. 

In the seventh, the Bucs tied the game for the final time when Quintanar singled in Ferraro. 

Blinn's pitching staff came up big in the top of the eighth when a fielding error and a double put Temple runners at second and third base with no outs. Freshman pitcher Luke Ekdall then left the game with an injury, bringing in freshman Cadyn Shaw for his first collegiate outing.

Shaw snuffed the Leopards' rally with three straight strikeouts.

"I don't think you can be brought in to make your first collegiate appearance in a worse situation, so for him to strike out three hitters in a row on three really good pitches in rainy conditions is unbelievable," Hart said of Shaw. "He was not fazed at all by the moment."

Freshman Jack Garza took the mound in the top of the ninth and shut down Temple once more to set up Blinn's game-winning rally in the home half.

Freshmen Bryce McCain and Matt Taylor also combined for two innings of scoreless relief in the sixth and seventh innings.

"It was just a phenomenal job by our pitching staff today," Hart added.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ferraro led off with a triple, and two outs later, Fryman provided the heroics with a run-scoring single to on a grounder to left field.

Blinn finished with 10 hits – including six for extra bases – led by a 3-for-3 game for Ferraro. Quintanar and sophomore Ryder McDaniel added two apiece. Quintanar had two RBIs.

Following the cancelation of its doubleheader with Northeast Texas Community College, Blinn will continue play when it travels for a doubleheader rematch with Temple on Saturday, at 1pm, in Temple.