BLINN BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADERS WITH TEMPLE AND MURRAY STATE
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
SATURDAY
The top-ranked Blinn College baseball team got its first taste of defeat Saturday, then quickly replaced it with something more savory.
Temple College knocked off the Buccaneers 2-0 in game one of the teams' doubleheader before Blinn bounced back with a 5-0 shutout to earn the split in Temple, Texas.
The Buccaneers moved to 3-1 on the year.
With the wind blowing in at the Danny Scott Sports Complex, pitching took center stage in both ends of the twin bill.
"It was a tough day to hit," Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. "That's not an excuse because we still have to find ways to win, even in tough environments. The bottom line for us is that we didn't make adjustments in game one, learned from it, and had a much better game two."
Freshman Brok Eddy took the mound for the Bucs in the opener and pitched well enough to win. The hard-throwing right-hander worked five innings of five-hit ball, allowing two runs (one earned) with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.
The Leopards touched Eddy for an earned run in the bottom of the first frame before pushing across an unearned tally on a pair of Blinn defensive errors in the second.
"Any time your starting pitcher only gives up two runs, you want to see your offense go out and pick him up," Hart added. "We flew out to the warning track a bunch of times; we hit some balls really hard at guys; we left guys in scoring position … that's just how baseball goes sometimes."
Freshman pitcher Bryce McCain pitched a perfect sixth inning for Blinn.
The Bucs finished with four hits.
Blinn and Temple switched roles in the finale, as the Bucs handcuffed the Leopard lineup for seven frames.
Freshman righty Hayden Morris dominated on the bump to the tune of seven strikeouts in five innings of two-hit ball. He walked three.
"Hayden was sort of our beacon of resilience today," Hart said. "I thought he really stepped up in game two, stringing together zeroes on the scoreboard and giving our offense a chance to find some rhythm and score."
When Morris's day came to an end, sophomore Hunter Bond took the mound for the second time this season, an appearance that virtually mirrored his first.
Bond capped his journey back to the mound during Jan. 25's season-opening twin bill against Temple following a two-year injury-induced hiatus. He pitched two innings while fanning the last five Leopards he faced.
On Saturday, Bond entered with runners on second and third with no outs and Blinn leading 4-0 and quickly extinguished Temple's rally with three straight punchouts. He then struck out the first two Leopards in the seventh before getting a flyout to end it.
"I'm just super happy for that kid," Hart said of Bond. "He always just has a huge smile on his face, and he has a real understanding of how quickly the game can get taken away from you, and he knows that every chance you get to put the uniform on and go play is a time to have fun and seize the big moments. It's special to get to watch him compete."
Blinn's offense took advantage of its dominant pitching with a 10-hit attack led by two-hit performances for sophomores Caden Ferraro and Ryder McDaniel, as well as freshman Benji Berrera.
The Bucs struck first in the opening frame when sophomore Bennett Fryman drew a two-out, bases loaded walk to make it 1-0.
It remained a one-run ballgame until Blinn broke things open with a three-run fourth.
McDaniel and freshman Seth Sloan hit back-to-back singles before Berrera and Ferraro followed with consecutive RBI base hits to make it 4-0.
Sophomore Ryan Williams scored on a passed ball in the seventh.
"We really executed well in the second game," Hart said. "We put runners in motion and got bunts down, and we got the timely hits that were missing in the first game. When opportunities to score present themselves, you have to cash in, and we did in game two."
SUNDAY
The No. 1 Blinn College baseball team settled for a doubleheader split with Murray State College on Sunday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers picked up a 13-5 victory in the seven-inning before falling 5-2 in the nine-inning finale.
Blinn is now 4-2 on the year.
"We're seeing the signs of a really good ballclub, but we can't pick and choose when we want to lock in and play good baseball; that's the message of the day for this bunch," Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. "They're still learning how to play the game the right way but we'll get there."
Everything seemed to go right for Blinn in game one, as the Bucs built a 7-0 lead in the first two innings.
Even after the Aggies pulled within 7-4 in the third, Blinn kept tacking on and pulled away for good with a three-run sixth frame.
The Bucs' lineup did the heavy lifting with a 12-hit onslaught, highlighted by a three-hit day for sophomore slugger Caden Ferraro that included a double, two home runs and six RBIs.
Ferraro is off to a fast start after hitting .384 with 18 homers and 82 RBIs as a freshman during Blinn's 2024 national championship run. After Sunday, the left-swinging Texas Tech University commit is hitting .526 (10 for 19) with four doubles, a triple, two long balls, and seven RBIs.
On Sunday, he hit two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings.
"This offense knows that we thrive in our home ballpark; we love hitting here," Ferraro said. "We had no worries coming into today and felt like we were going to be able to get some balls into the air and into the gaps. I got two good pitches to hit – fastballs down the middle – and put some good swings on them and ended up with two home runs."

Sophomore Bennett Fryman started on the mound for Blinn but pulled double duty as he also had three at bats. He picked up two hits, including a no-doubt two-run blast that cleared the trees in right field during the Bucs' six-run second inning.
Sophomore Matt Quintanar had a double and an RBI as part of a two-hit showing, and sophomore Ryder McDaniel (one RBI) and freshman Reece Lunsford had two singles apiece.
Freshman Trey Craig also singled and drove in a run.
Fryman was credited with the win after 2 1/3 innings of work. He allowed four runs (earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Out of the bullpen, freshman Jack Garza worked 1 2/3 innings of one-run ball, and sophomore Dillon Henson (two innings) and freshman Bryce McCain shut out Murray State across the final three frames of play.
Game two was unfortunately a different story for the Bucs, as sophomore pitcher Austin Haley struck out 10 hitters while limiting Blinn to an unearned run through 6 1/3 innings of work.
"Their game two starter really stepped up for them and kept us at bay," Hart said. "We started getting frustrated and having bad at bats, and even when we did get something going late, we just couldn't get the big hit when we needed it."
The Bucs broke up the shutout in the seventh inning when freshman Drew Britton drove in Ferraro on an RBI groundout.
In the eighth, Blinn loaded the bases with one out and drove in a run on freshman Benji Berrera's RBI groundout, but couldn't keep the rally going.
Then in the ninth, Quintanar started the inning with a single, and two outs later a walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases. With the winning run at the plate, however, the Aggies induced a fly out to end the game.
"We're really good when things are going our way, but right now when we get punched in the mouth or have to fight through a little adversity, we haven't handled that very well as a team," Hart explained. "We need to get better in that department because baseball is hard, and we have to learn to play the game the same way the entire time and continue to do what the game asks you to do. I know we'll learn from today."
The Bucs finished with three hits.
On the mound, freshman Cadyn Shaw got the start for Blinn and lasted 4 1/3 innings. He took the loss after giving up two runs (earned) on two hits while fanning seven Aggies and walking one.
Freshman hurler Ben Polleschultz was charged with three earned runs in 2/3 innings, freshman Hudson Melaerts tossed three scoreless innings, and sophomore Paxton Terveen worked a scoreless ninth.
Blinn's season resumes when the Bucs visit Amarillo College for a three-game series beginning with a twin bill at noon on Friday, Feb. 7, in Amarillo, Texas.
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