BRENHAM, Texas – Laredo Community College scored six runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and defeat Blinn College baseball, 9-6, on Friday night at Leroy Dreyer Field.
With the loss, Blinn falls to 15-10 overall and 9-4 in Region XIV play.
Blinn played strong offensively and defensively for the majority of the game, but a shaky eighth inning sealed its fate.
Jacob Millender gave the Buccaneers a solid start after only surrendering two runs on six hits, while striking out eight in seven innings of work.
On the offensive side, the Buccaneers outhit Laredo 12 to 11 and Alec Sanchez led the offense with three hits and two RBIs. Marshall Skinner also drove in two runs, and Reggie McCalister and Cameron Gibbons were next with one RBI each. In addition, Brandon Ashy led Blinn with two runs scored.
Blinn was the first to strike with two runs in the third inning. After McCalister and Gray Rodgers drew back-to-back walks to lead off, Skinner used a sacrifice fly to move them into scoring position. Sanchez then drove in both runs with a double for Blinn to lead 2-0.
In the fourth inning, Blinn added two more runs to extend its lead to 4-0. Jake Miller led off the inning with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of McCalister. Skinner recorded the next RBI after hitting a single for Ashy, who singled earlier in the inning, to score.
In the fifth inning, Cameron Gibbons hit a solo home run for Blinn to lead 5-0.
Laredo didn’t find its way onto the board until the sixth inning when the Palominos scored one run. Laredo continued to gain momentum after scoring a run in the seventh inning to gain on Blinn 5-2. By the eighth inning, Laredo fully took advantage of Blinn’s mishaps to score six runs and lead for the first time by the score of 8-5.
Blinn answered back in the bottom half with one run after the Buccaneers loaded the bases and Skinner was hit with a pitch.
Laredo added the final run in the ninth inning to pull ahead 9-5 for the final.
Koby Collins led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, but was left stranded.
Blinn will continue the conference series against Laredo Community College on Saturday, March 24 in a doubleheader starting at noon at Leroy Dreyer Field.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 36 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.