BLINN BASEBALL OPENS SERIES WITH A 17-8 WIN OVER GALVESTON
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The No. 4 Blinn College baseball team overcame an early deficit and rallied for a 17-9 run-rule victory over Galveston College in the opener of a four-game Region 14 South series Tuesday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers prevailed in seven innings to improve to 19-7 overall and 9-2 in South play. Blinn also extended its winning streak to four games and has won nine of its last 10 contests.
The Whitecaps jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Buccaneers came to bat in the bottom of the first inning.
“Not the way you want to start a ballgame, but I was really proud of our guys for sticking to the plan today,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “We turned off the scoreboard and just played the game the right way, and that mentality got us back into it. When you focus on doing the right things, more times than not good things are going to happen.”
Blinn quickly began its comeback in the home half of the first. A bases-loaded walk to freshman designated hitter Zachary Tuxhorn put the Buccaneers on the board, and he later scored on a passed ball following a single and a walk. Sophomore outfielder Brady Sullivan added a two-run single to trim the deficit to 6-4.
The Buccaneers continued to chip away in the third. Tuxhorn reached on an error and scored on freshman third baseman Ryley Leininger’s triple. Sophomore utility player Benji Barrera then plated Leininger with an RBI groundout to tie the game, and a run-scoring wild pitch gave Blinn its first lead at 7-6.
Galveston briefly moved back in front with a run in the fourth before Tuxhorn delivered the decisive blow in the bottom half of the inning. With one out and a runner on second, he launched his sixth home run of the season to right-center field to put the Buccaneers ahead 9-8.
“That was a big-boy moment and quite possibly his best at-bat of the season,” Hart said. “You can’t ask for a bigger hit in that spot.”
Tuxhorn finished 3 for 4 and fell a triple shy of the cycle. The freshman is now batting .512 (43 for 84) with a .620 on-base percentage, six home runs, nine doubles, and 26 RBIs. He has recorded at least one hit in 22 of his first 25 collegiate games and has reached base safely in all but two.
Sophomore outfielder Reece Lunsford added an RBI single later in the fourth to extend Blinn’s lead to 10-8.
The Buccaneers broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning before Leininger capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the sixth.
Blinn totaled 16 hits in the victory. Tuxhorn, Leininger, and sophomore first baseman Drew Britton produced three hits apiece, while Tuxhorn and Sullivan drove in four runs each. Leininger added two RBIs.
Freshman right-hander Corby Wagoner earned his first collegiate victory after tossing 3 2/3 innings of relief. He allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Redshirt freshman Marc Barnhard followed with three scoreless innings, surrendering one hit and one walk while striking out three.
Sophomore Jack Garza started for the Buccaneers but exited after one-third of an inning. He allowed four earned runs on three hits and one walk.
“At this level, the difference between good teams and not-so-good teams is often the quality of your bullpen,” Hart said. “We’ve been fortunate to have guys who can come in and put out fires, and more times than not our lineup has responded by scoring runs to back them up. I was really impressed with what Wagoner and Barnhard did for us tonight.”
The series continues at 6 p.m. Thursday in Galveston, Texas.