The Buccaneers rallied to win Saturday’s opener at Andy Pettitte Park 5-3 in seven innings before cruising to a 14-3 nine-inning victory.
Blinn swept the three-game series from the defending South Zone champions to improve to 17-5 overall and 6-1 in the South, and eclipsed its win total from the 2022 season (15). The Bucs are off to their best 22-game start since going 15-7 in 2009.
“It was a really, really good day for us,” said first-year Blinn head coach Dusty Hart. “San Jacinto is a really good team, but our guys are just fighters. We just battled and battled and I’m really proud of my team for that.”
The Buccaneers trailed 3-2 heading into the sixth inning of Saturday’s opener but used a three-run rally to jump ahead for good. An RBI single from sophomore Ian Collier scored freshman Brandon Bishop and tied the game at 3-all before freshman Coy DeFury smacked a two-run double that plated freshman Tanner Reaves and Collier.
Reaves led a nine-hit attack with three singles, while DeFury smacked two doubles as part of a two-hit performance.
Blinn’s rally made a winner out of starting pitcher Victor Loa. The sophomore tossed 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He improved to 2-0 on the year. Sophomore Tate Bethel earned his second save with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up one hit, fanned two, and walked one.
In game two, the Bucs took a 4-0 first-inning lead and never trailed, eventually erupting for six more runs late to turn the game into a blowout.
Six of Blinn’s 15 hits went for extra bases, including a pair of doubles for Collier, two triples for freshman Marshall Lipsey, and home runs for DeFury and sophomore Cam Wheeler.
“I said after our win in the series opener that we wanted to give San Jacinto a challenge,” said DeFury, who collected four hits, two doubles, a home run, and six RBIs during the twin bill. “I think we entered this series feeling like underdogs because we aren’t ranked and San Jacinto is, so we were just determined to prove that we can be a force in our conference.”
DeFury made it 4-0 in the top of the first with a three-run blast to center field.
After the Ravens pulled within 4-2 in the third, the Bucs answered in the fourth with a Reaves RBI groundout, a Collier RBI double, and a run-scoring single from DeFury to make it 7-2.
Wheeler sent a solo home run to center in the fifth to give his team an 8-2 advantage.
Blinn added one run in the eighth and five more in the ninth.
Collier finished 4 for 6 with two RBIs, while Defury had two hits and drove in fourth. Bishop and Lipsey had three hits apiece and accounted for three RBIs and six runs.
“Our guys are locking in every pitch,” Hart said. “A big part of that, too, is that our bullpen is giving our hitters the opportunity to relax at the plate because they’re putting up zeroes in the later innings. That gives our hitters confidence.”
On the mound, two freshmen kept the San Jacinto offense in check.
Bryson Dudley pushed his record to 3-0 with a 5-inning start. He allowed two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Hunter Bond entered in the sixth and tossed four hitless innings. He walked one and punched out five.
The Bucs resume region play with a four-game set against Wharton Junior College, which owns a share of the South Zone lead with Blinn. The series opens at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, in Wharton, Texas. The two teams will then face off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas, before concluding the series with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, in Wharton.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
