BLINN BASEBALL WRAPS UP SERIES WITH A DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT AGAINST SAN JACINTO
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The No. 9 Blinn College baseball team settled for a doubleheader split with No. 8 San Jacinto College-North on Friday in Houston, but still secured a four-game series victory against its Region 14 South rival.
The Buccaneers prevailed 15-3 in the opener before falling 8-7 in a thrilling finale.
Blinn is now 15-7 overall and 5-2 in the South standings.
"It was good to get the first game today and secure the series," Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. "It's tough to beat anybody four times in a row, especially a really good team like San Jacinto. You don't get many chances to sweep a team like that, so not getting it done was disappointing; but there are still a ton of positives to take away from the series."
One of those positives was Blinn's offense. The Buccaneers piled up 48 runs against the Ravens across the four-game set, including a series-best 15 in Friday's opener.
Backed by another solid pitching effort from redshirt freshman Luke Ekdall, Blinn's offense kept pace with San Jacinto-North through three innings before snapping a 3-3 tie with a three-run sixth inning.
The Bucs then erupted for nine runs in the seventh to put the game away.
Freshman third baseman/pitcher Ryley Leininger put Blinn ahead for good with an RBI single in the sixth. Sophomore outfielder Brady Sullivan followed with a bases-loaded walk, and sophomore outfielder Reece Lunsford was also issued a free pass with the bases loaded to make it 6-3.
In the seventh, another bases-loaded walk – this time to Leininger – got the scoring started once again.
Sophomore utility man Benji Barrera added an RBI single; Sullivan was hit by a pitch to force in a run; Lunsford smacked a bases-clearing double; Smolinski followed with an RBI single; and sophomore first baseman Drew Britton capped the scoring with a two-run double.
Blinn finished with 12 hits and drew nine walks.
Lunsford drove in four runs, Sullivan added three, and Barrera, Leininger, Britton, and Smolinski had two RBIs apiece.
Smolinski, Leininger, Barrera, and freshman designated hitter Zachary Tuxhorn recorded two hits each, while Britton drew three walks.
Ekdall turned in a five-inning quality start. He allowed three earned runs on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts to improve to 2-3 on the season.
In the nightcap, Blinn was unable to complete a ninth-inning rally and fell just short of a series sweep.
"We made too many mistakes in the second game," Hart said. "We kicked some balls around in the infield early and let San Jacinto scratch together some runs. We tried to dig ourselves out of a hole and just ran out of outs."
The Bucs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single from Barrera.
The Ravens answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Barrera tied the game in the third with another RBI single before the go-ahead run scored on a double play.
San Jacinto-North surged ahead with a four-run fourth inning and led 8-4 after six.
Blinn cut the deficit to two in the eighth on Lunsford's two-run home run.
In the ninth, the Buccaneers loaded the bases with no outs. A popout brought Sullivan to the plate, and he delivered a single to right field to drive in a run. A baserunning mistake on the play resulted in an out, however, and the Bucs were unable to push across the tying run as a popout ended the game.
"Little mistakes add up over the course of nine innings, and that's what got us in the end," Hart added.
Blinn finished with 13 hits, led by Barrera's three-hit, three-RBI performance. Sophomore infielder Jacob Bohacek and freshman catcher/designated hitter Dane Perry added two hits apiece, while Lunsford drove in two runs.
On the mound, sophomore pitcher Hayden Morris got the start and fell to 4-2 on the season. He allowed seven runs (four earned) on five hits with eight walks and two strikeouts across 3 1/3 innings.
Sophomore Ben Polleschultz hurled 2 2/3 innings and allowed one earned run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Freshman Trevor Moore added two innings of one-hit ball and struck out two.
Blinn will take a brief detour from region play when it hosts No. 3 McLennan Community College for a nine-inning game at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 9, at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.