BLINN BEATS WHARTON TWICE ON SATURDAY TO SWEEP SERIES 4-0

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

More of the same brought on more of the same for the surging Blinn College baseball team Saturday.

The fourth-ranked Buccaneers thrived behind expectedly effective pitching and reliably potent hitting en route to a 3-2, 11-1 doubleheader home sweep of Region XIV South foe Wharton County Junior College at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.

The pair of wins completed a four-game sweep of the Pioneers as Blinn picked up its ninth and 10th consecutive triumphs. The Bucs are now 24-6 overall and improved their first-place record in the South to 12-2.

Blinn also came from behind to claim both ballgames, giving the team seven comeback wins during its streak.

"It's really hard to beat a team four times in a row, especially in this region," Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. "We just battled today, specifically in the opener. Our pitching staff didn't always have its best stuff and our hitters struggled a bit early, but we fought and found a way to claw this one out."

Starting off the day for Blinn was sophomore pitcher Brok Eddy, who settled for a no-decision despite pitching well enough to win. The hard-throwing right-hander worked six solid innings in which he gave up two earned runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. 

Eddy left the game with his team trailing 2-1, but sophomore Bennett Fryman got him off the hook in the home half of the inning.

Fryman launched a two-out solo home run on a breaking ball to tie the game.

"Our ability to come back after being down in games just boils down to everyone on this team pulling from the same rope," Fryman said. "We're one complete unit, not just nine guys on the field. And then our pitching staff has just been great and has allowed our offense to fight and get back into games."

The Bucs kept fighting in the bottom of the seventh after freshman relief pitcher Bryce McCain set down Wharton County in order in the top of the inning. McCain was credited with the win, the first of his collegiate career.

Leading off the seventh for Blinn, freshman Drew Britton reached on an error and took second base when freshman Brady Sullivan laid down a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Ryder McDaniel then doubled on a line drive to left field to drive Britton home.

"The plan up there was just to stay within myself and get the barrel to the ball," McDaniel said. "I was just trying to react to whatever he threw me and he threw me a fastball that I was just able to get a good swing on."

McDaniel had two of Blinn's four hits. 

A five-inning victory in game two would require another Bucs rally, but this time, they powered up early.

A 1-0 deficit was erased in emphatic fashion in the third inning when sophomore Matt Quintanar smacked a grand slam to left field.

Sophomore Ethan Gonzalez added a solo home run to kickstart the Bucs' seven-run fourth frame, and after sophomore Lane Allen tacked on an RBI single, sophomore Caden Ferraro clubbed a three-run homer – his 10th of the season – to left for a 9-1 cushion. Quintanar then kept things going with a single before Fryman hit his second longball of the game to right field.

"The power hitting is great, especially when the wind is blowing straight out of the ballpark like it was today," Hart said. "Sometimes guys will press at the plate and end up doing too much and making a mistake. I thought we handled the conditions the right way for the most part and picked the right time and right pitches to take a hack at it."

Blinn finished with nine hits, led by two-hit performances for Quintanar and freshman Trey Craig. 

Bucs freshman Hayden Morris improved to 4-0 with four gutsy innings on the mound. He allowed an earned run on six hits, walked three, and fanned six Pioneers on 83 pitches. Freshman Ben Polleschultz shut the door in the fifth with a pair of strikeouts.

Blinn's season continues with a short pause in region play. The Bucs travel to face Navarro College, a member of the Region XIV North division, for a nine-inning ballgame at 2 p.m. on Monday in Corsicana.