The Buccaneers dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in region play, while the Roadrunners improved to 5-3 with a 1-0 league record.

“We’ve got to get better very quickly,” Blinn head coach Harvey McIntyre said. “Right now, we do things that teams who don’t win games do, and that’s going to have to change.”

McIntyre said the silver lining in Tuesday’s outcome was the team’s use of seven different pitchers, which allowed the coach to get an extended look at some new arms. 

A handful of Bucs also had solid showings at the plate, starting with outfielder Cole Smajstrla. The freshman finished with three hits, including a solo home run, and scored twice. Infielder Liam Kolechi also smacked a solo homer for Blinn; freshman outfielder Chase Arnaud had a pair of hits, and Cash Callahan doubled and drove in a run.

Angelina opened the scoring in the top of the first with a single, but in the home half of the frame, Smajstrla’s moonshot homer over the wall in left tied things up before Callahan doubled to plate Arnaud for a 2-1 Blinn lead. 

In the second inning, the Roadrunners tied the game 2-2, but Kolechi homered off the right-field foul pole in the bottom of the frame to give the Buccaneers their final cushion at 3-2.

Angelina took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning, added three more in the six, and one more in the eighth.

Blinn pushed across solo runs in the eighth and ninth innings, both on errors. 

(Pictured: Blinn College pitcher Aiden Huerta.)

Freshman relief pitcher Aiden Huerta was the pitcher of record for the Buccaneers, absorbing the loss after 2 2/3 innings of work. He allowed one earned run on five hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Blinn will participate in the Brazos Valley Tournament at Nutrabolt Stadium in Bryan Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 10-13. The Buccaneers open the tournament against Navarro at 3 p.m., Thursday, continue with a 10 a.m. tilt against Grayson College on Friday, and finish Sunday with a 10 a.m. matchup with Howard College.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.