NO. 3 BLINN BASEBALL COMPLETES DOMINANT SWEEP OF NORTHEAST TEXAS TO REACH FOURTH CONSECUTIVE JUCO WORLD SERIES
The Buccaneers outscored the Eagles 21-4 in two games to punch their ticket to Grand Junction, Colo.
The No. 3 Blinn College baseball team left no doubt Friday.
The Buccaneers routed Northeast Texas Community College 11-1 to complete a two-game sweep in the Region 14 South Super Regional and secure the Mid-South District championship in Waco, Texas.
Blinn (45-12) outscored Northeast Texas 21-4 across the best-of-three series and advanced to the NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., for the fourth consecutive season. The Bucs will be making their 10th JUCO World Series appearance in program history.
The Bucs will learn their seed for the upcoming 10-team national tournament Tuesday, May 19, during the NJCAA selection show on the NJCAA Network. The World Series begins Saturday, May 23.
“I knew if we played the way we’re capable of playing, we’d have a chance to go to Grand Junction,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “It’s always special to punch your ticket, and I’ll never take it for granted because it’s not easy to get there. Each team has its own story, and we’re fortunate that we get to continue writing ours.”
After defeating the Eagles 10-3 on Thursday, Blinn picked up right where it left off in the clincher.
The Bucs opened the bottom of the first inning with a single from sophomore second baseman Hunter Smolinski. Sophomore first baseman Drew Britton followed with a one-out base hit, and two batters later, sophomore utility man Benji Barrera grounded a two-run single to right field for an early 2-0 lead.
Smolinski’s sacrifice fly to center pushed the advantage to 3-0 in the third inning.
Northeast Texas got on the board in the fourth, but Blinn answered with a decisive four-run fifth.
Sophomore shortstop Jacob Bohacek sparked the inning when he reached on an error that allowed another run to score. One walk later, freshman catcher Zavhary Tuxhorn ripped an RBI double before freshman third baseman Ryley Leininger added an RBI single to make it 7-1.
Sophomore outfielder Reece Lunsford broke the game open in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, he lined a three-run double to center to extend the Bucs’ lead to 10-1.
It was Lunsford’s second bases-clearing double in as many days.
“You just have to turn the scoreboard off in your head and do the job that each moment requires,” Lunsford said. “One through nine, each guy in our lineup understood their jobs in this series, and that’s why we’re going back to the World Series.”
Bohacek capped the scoring later in the inning with an RBI single.
“This series had two really good baseball games, so take nothing away from Northeast Texas because that is a really good, well-coached team,” Hart added. “They made it a lot harder on us than maybe the scores suggest. I was really proud of the guys for sticking to the plan and doing the job the way we asked them to do it.”
With its offense rolling, Blinn also benefited from another strong outing on the mound.
Redshirt freshman Luke Ekdall (7-6), fresh off his first career no-hitter, tossed 5 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run on three hits with five walks and seven strikeouts.
“I thought he threw the ball well,” Hart said. “He was amped up and his command was a little off, but he settled down and did what we needed him to do. He stayed in the fight and made pitches when he needed to.”
Sophomore Ben Polleschultz entered with one out in the sixth inning and worked 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief. He struck out four and walked one.
Sophomore Hudson Melaerts retired the side in the ninth inning with two strikeouts.
“We were confident that with the pitching staff lining up the way it was, if we could get some offense going, we’d be in good shape,” Hart said. “We still had one of our best arms waiting in the wings in Hayden Morris, who was ready to go Saturday if we needed him, so we felt prepared to close out the series one way or another.”
Story Courtesy of:
Joe Alberico
Blinn Sports Information Specialist