The Blinn College baseball team picked up an impressive 12-2, six-inning victory over No. 20 Wharton County Junior College on Wednesday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Region XIV South victory improved the Buccaneers’ record to 17-11 overall and 9-3 in the South. Blinn is currently tied with San Jacinto College-North for first place in the South.
After the Pioneers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first frame, Blinn erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the third to surge ahead. Two more runs in the fourth innings and a solo tally in the sixth put the game away via the run-rule.
“We just have a lot of confidence right now, and it’s showing,” Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. “Everybody is doing their part right now, and they understand there are nine guys in the lineup for a reason. We’ve taken the mentality that you have to do whatever it takes to get on base and get the next guy up.”
Blinn pounded out 10 hits and also drew 10 walks as it cruised to its second consecutive double-digit run total against Wharton County. The Bucs won the first game of the four-game set 10-6 on Tuesday.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Marshall Lipsey)
Sophomore Cade Climie continued his terrific offensive stretch with a three-hit game that included a double, an RBI, and three runs scored. Climie and fellow sophomore Connor McGinnis both lead the team with a matching .378 batting average this spring with identical 37-for-98 hitting lines.
Sophomore Tanner Reaves went 2 for 2 with a three-run home run during the big third inning to finish with three RBIs and two runs scored. He also drew a pair of walks. Sophomore Marshall Lipsey had two hits and drove in two runners, and sophomore Tony Vernars drove in two.
Lipsey’s RBI line-drive single in the sixth plated Climie to end the game.
Sophomore Coy DeFury, and freshmen Caden Ferraro and Ethan Gonzalez each had one RBI.
On the mound, Ferraro pulled double duty as he worked five impressive innings for the Bucs. After allowing two runs in the top of the first, Ferraro cruised. He gave up an RBI single with two outs in the opening frame but went on to retire 13 of the final 15 hitters he faced without allowing another hit. For the game, he allowed two earned runs on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
(Pictured: Blinn freshman Caden Ferraro)
“It’s the other team’s job to score, and I think we did a good job of minimizing the damage,” Hart said. “Caden is a huge competitor, and you know he’s going to give you a chance to win one way or another, even if he doesn’t have his best stuff. He’s come through for us time and time again and we’ve trusted him to go out there and get the job done.”
Sophomore Ben Bosse came on in the top of the six and struck out two Pioneers as part of an inning of scoreless relief.
Blinn and Wharton County will conclude their series with a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, in Wharton, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
