BLINN BASEBALL COMES BACK TO SPLIT A DOUBLEHEADER WITH WHARTON
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The 15th-ranked Blinn College baseball team earned a doubleheader split with Wharton County Junior College on Saturday, maintaining its hold on first place in the Region 14 South.
The Pioneers claimed the opener 4-1 before the Buccaneers responded with a 9-2 victory in the finale.
Blinn secured the three-game series by taking two of three and improved to 24-9 overall and 13-4 in South play. The Bucs remain one game ahead of Wharton County in the division standings.
“It was great to win game two, especially after the way we were handcuffed in the opener,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “Winning the series is huge. The tougher team usually wins. In the first game, Wharton County was tougher than us, and in the second game we were tougher than them.”
Blinn’s offense struggled to find its rhythm in the opener.
Wharton County took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and extended it to 3-0 in the fourth. The Buccaneers got on the board in the bottom half of the inning when freshman outfielder Carson Cherry launched a solo home run to left field, but the Pioneers added an insurance run in the fifth.
Blinn was limited to three hits in the loss.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Luke Ekdall (4-4) took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings. Redshirt freshman Landon Bowden provided 1 1/3 innings of relief, surrendering one hit while striking out one.
The Bucs’ offense came alive in game two.
Blinn jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from freshman catcher/designated hitter Zachary Tuxhorn and never trailed.
In the second, sophomore infielder Jacob Bohacek delivered an RBI single, and freshman third baseman Ryley Leininger followed with a two-run base hit to push the lead to 4-0.
After Wharton County scored in the fifth, Blinn answered in the bottom half with back-to-back RBI doubles from sophomore infielder Hunter Smolinski and sophomore outfielder Reece Lunsford, followed by an RBI single from sophomore infielder Drew Britton.
The Pioneers cut the deficit to 8-2 in the sixth, but Britton added an RBI single in the eighth to cap the scoring.
Blinn totaled 13 hits in the win. Britton led the way with three hits, while Smolinski and Bohacek had two apiece. Leininger, Britton, and Smolinski each drove in two runs.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Travis Minard (2-0) earned his second consecutive quality start, allowing one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks across five innings.
“It was awesome to see Minard step up for us again,” Hart said. “It was his second collegiate start in a huge game – about as close to a must-win game as you can have for this time of the year – and I thought he did just an unbelievable job.”
Freshman Corby Wagoner added two innings of one-run relief, while sophomore pitchers Matt Taylor and Hudson Melaerts each tossed a scoreless inning to close it out. Melaerts struck out the side in the ninth.
Blinn returns to action with a four-game Region 14 South series against Coastal Bend College, beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, in Beeville, Texas.