HOUSTON, Texas — The Blinn College baseball team lost a pair of games to No. 3 San Jacinto College-North on the road Saturday.  

First, the Buccaneers fell to the Gators 4-3. Then, San Jacinto closed out the four-game conference series with a 10-2 victory in eight innings. 

With the pair of losses, the Buccaneers now hold a 15-15 overall record and 10-12 conference record. 

San Jacinto 4 – Blinn 3  

The Buccaneers fell to San Jacinto 4-3 in the doubleheader opener. 

Kam Kelton went 3-for-4 and drove in one run to lead the offense. Jack Schell and Preston Hoffart each knocked in one run, while Schell, Westley Schields and Jett Garcia each scored one run.  

Jake Olson tossed 4 1/3 innings of relief and surrendered just one run on three hits.  

Blinn opened the game with a 2-0 lead after Kelton hit a one-run single and Hoffart walked in a run in the top of the first inning. 

San Jacinto snatched the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. However, the Buccaneers tied the game in the second when Garcia scored on Schell’s sacrifice fly. 

The game remained tied 3-3 until San Jacinto scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead for good. 

San Jacinto 10 – Blinn 2 

San Jacinto defeated Blinn 10-2 in eight innings to conclude the doubleheader. 

Despite the loss, the Buccaneers outhit the Gators 8-4. Ben Hovda led the offense with two hits and one run, while Schell also scored one run. 

After two scoreless innings, Blinn landed on the board first after taking advantage of two San Jacinto mishaps. Schell scored first on a passed ball, while Hovda scored on an error for the Buccaneers to lead 2-0. 

San Jacinto answered back with four runs in the bottom of the third inning and tacked on three more in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead.  

The Gators added one run in each of the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings for the 10-2 run-rule win. 

Next, Blinn will take a break from conference play with a nine-inning game against Spartan Academy on Tuesday, April 20, at 2 p.m. at Leroy Dreyer Field. 

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