Blinn was a 4-3 walk-off winner in the opener thanks to a solo home run from freshman Brayden Sprencel and rallied for a 3-2 win in a finale that was shortened to six innings due to incoming rain and lightning.
The Bucs finished the regular season with a 39-13 mark and won the South Zone with a 26-9 mark. Blinn will now represent the South as the top seed in its half of the Region XIV Tournament, which begins Friday, May 5, at Leroy Dreyer Field. Final seedings and first-round matchups for the tournament, which will feature seeds one and three from the South and two and four from the Region XIV North Zone, are still being decided.
“We want to keep good baseball and keep playing hard,” first-year head coach Dusty Hart said. “We were picked to finish second to last in our conference by our region’s coaches at the beginning of the season. There are a lot of people we’ve gotten to prove wrong and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to keep going.”
The Bucs made certain they would have plenty of momentum going into the postseason with a pair of region victories over Galveston.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Marshall Lipsey doubles during a game against Galveston on April 28)
Blinn freshman Marshall Lipsey opened the inning with a double, took third on freshman Brandon Bishop‘s bunt single, and scored when sophomore Ian Collier sent a sacrifice fly to right field.
That was all the Bucs would muster through the first three frames as the Whitecaps got to Blinn sophomore pitcher Sam Crain for three runs.
The Bucs made it a 3-2 ballgame in the fourth thanks to an RBI double from sophomore Kyle Peschel that sent freshman Jake Kolkhorst to the plate.
Lipsey tied the game at three in the sixth with a no-doubt home run over the wall in right field.
Sprencel then stepped to the plate to begin the seventh and sent the third pitch he saw to right field for the win. The homer was the first of Sprencel’s collegiate career.
“In a tie ball game, my job in that spot was to get on base, especially because I have good hitters in the lineup behind me,” Sprencel said. “I just happened to get a pitch I could drive, and I was just glad I could end it there.”
Hart was especially proud of Sprencel, who found more playing time late in the season after primarily serving as a reserve during the early portion of the spring.
“That’s a big moment for Brayden and I’m happy for him,” Hart said. “Not very many people get to do that – a true walk-off home run. It’s pretty special for your first college home run to be a walk-off. I’ve had a lot of good players play for me who never hit a walk-off.”
Blinn stacked up 11 hits, led by two apiece for Sprencel, Lipsey, and sophomore Ryan Scott.
Sprencel’s heroics made a winner out of freshman pitcher Blane Zeplin, who came on in relief to toss 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball. He fanned three to earn his third victory of the season.
“Every time we go in in a relief spot, our coaches just tell us to execute pitches,” Zeplin said. “That was just my main focus … to get outs and get our team back in the dugout so they can go hit and score runs. I think we have the best offense in the country, so as a pitcher it’s easy to go on the mound and feel comfortable filling up the strike zone because you know you have the bats to back you up.”
Crain took the no-decision following 4 2/3 innings of work. He gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Blane Zeplin pitches during a game against Galveston on April 28)
Game two again saw Galveston jump out to an early lead as it scored twice in the top of the first.
Freshman starting pitcher Kaden Dydalweicz put his early struggles in the rearview mirror, however, and put up three straight zeroes to set up Blinn’s three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.
Sprencel tied the game with a two-run double that scored freshman Kash Durkin and sophomore Cam Wheeler, and one out later, freshman Luke Smith singled in Sprencel for the go-ahead run. Durkin walked and Wheeler doubled before Sprencel’s clutch hit.
“We had some big moments in game two,” Hart said. “I thought we made some big plays and had some big hits from guys who haven’t had as many at bats as other guys. I was happy to see that. We tell our guys all the time to never stay satisfied just being on the bench because your number could be called at any time. One at bat can change the direction of your entire season.”
Blinn finished with five hits.
Dydalweicz earned the win after hurling four innings. He gave up two earned runs on four hits while fanning seven Whitecaps and walking just one. Sophomore Victor Loa tossed one inning of relief before freshman Bryson Dudley got out of a sixth-inning jam to earn his first collegiate save.
Blinn is scheduled to begin the Region XIV Tournament with a 2 p.m. matchup on Friday, May 5.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 43 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
