BUCS TAKE TWO OUT OF THREE FROM AMARILLO OVER THE WEEKEND

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information.

The top-ranked Blinn College baseball team left Amarillo, Texas, with a series win over Amarillo College on Saturday after securing a 10-7 victory to close out the three-game set.

The Buccaneers improved to 6-3 overall.

"It was a good day," Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. "It's always tough to play on the road, and this was our first real road test of the season. It was a three-game series in a nice stadium with a good atmosphere against a good team with a good offense. We bounced back from a tough loss Friday night and showed what we're made of."

The Bucs and Badgers split the series-opening doubleheader on Friday, with Amarillo walking off with a 13-12 victory in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"After a loss like that, sometimes you don't know what to expect from your team, but I was really proud of how they showed up and responded today," Hart added.

The Badgers built an early 3-0 lead against Bucs sophomore starting pitcher Reece Wagner, but the hard-throwing right-hander silenced the hosts in the fourth frame and got two outs in the fifth to help pave the way to Blinn's rally.

With two men on and two outs in the fifth, sophomore pitcher Hunter Bond came on in relief and induced a fly out to end the threat.

"We wanted to find the right moment to get Reece back out there and today was a good matchup for him," Hart said. "It wasn't perfect, but he threw well and we knew he was the right guy to go to. His stuff is as good as anyone on our pitching staff."

Blinn scored its first run in the top of the fourth when sophomore Caden Ferraro scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, sophomore Ryan Williams plated freshman Drew Britton on an RBI groundout.

The Bucs took the lead for good in the sixth when freshman Trey Craig singled in sophomore Bennett Fryman and Britton reached on a bunt single which led to a two-run error by the Amarillo defense. Sophomore Ryder McDaniel then tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.

In the eighth, Britton came home on a wild pitch.

The Badgers got two runs back in the eighth. 

Sophomore Matt Quintanar came home on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth before Britton smacked a two-run home run to right field to make it 10-5.

With Bond still on the mound, the Badgers tacked on two more tallies in the ninth, but a fly out to left field ended the game.

Bond was effective in relief with nine strikeouts and just two walks in 4 1/3 innings of work. He allowed four earned runs, the first runs charged to the second-year Buc in three outings this season.

Blinn's offense totaled seven hits, with Britton collecting three and Quintanar finishing with a pair. The Bucs also drew eight walks.

The Bucs get back to work when they open a four-game home series against John Melvin University beginning with a twin bill at 4 p.m. on Friday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham. The two teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Saturday.