BLINN BASEBALL CRUSHES GALVESTON IN SERIES OPENER 22-7

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

A 17-run fourth inning turned a close game into a no-doubter and sent the fifth-ranked Blinn College baseball team roaring past Galveston College on Tuesday in Galveston, Texas.

The Buccaneers earned a 22-7 victory in five innings to get back into the win column in the Region XIV South standings.

Blinn (32-10, 20-5 South) and Galveston were locked in a 2-2 before 21 Buccaneers stepped to the plate in the top of the fourth frame. Blinn racked up 10 walks, three singles, two doubles, and two home runs during its game-sealing outburst.

"It was a really good, close game until the fourth inning," Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. "That's when we started stacking good at bats and played really unselfish baseball. I don't think we swung at one bad pitch the entire inning; it was just a really good job by our hitters. That's about as complete an inning as I've ever seen."

A bases loaded walk drawn by freshman Seth Sloan kickstarted the onslaught. 

Sophomores Bennett Fryman and Lane Allen each hit a three-run homer in the inning.

The Bucs tacked on three more runs in the fifth. The Whitecaps scored five in the home half of the inning but could not stave off the run rule.

Blinn finished with 13 hits and 13 walks.

Sophomore Matt Quintanar, who was hitting an already-impressive .387 heading into the month of April, went 4 for 5 with a double, a solo home run, and five RBIs. He is hitting a robust .613 this month (19 for 31) and raised his team-leading average to .433.

Fryman added two hits and five RBIs, Allen had a pair of hits and drove in three, freshman leadoff hitter Reece Lunsford tacked on two hits and three RBIs, sophomore Ethan Gonzalez chipped in two hits and drove in a run, and sophomore Caden Ferraro had a hit and plated two.

Every player in the Blinn lineup had at least one hit and scored one or more runs. 

"We were really locked in," Hart added. "It's good for our players to see what they are capable of when they play unselfish baseball."

On the mound, freshman Cadyn Shaw started for the Bucs and improved to 4-1 on the season. He allowed five earned runs on six hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts across four innings. 

Sophomore Ryan Hanks got three outs in the fifth to close out the game.

Up next, the Bucs and Whitecaps continue their four-game series at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.