The Blinn College baseball team bounced back from a tough game one loss to earn a doubleheader split with Region XIV South rival San Jacinto College-North on Saturday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Ravens rallied for an 8-3 extra-innings win in the opener before the Buccaneers responded in a big way for a 16-8, seven-inning triumph in the finale.
The split gave Blinn a series win over San Jacinto-North and kept the Bucs in first place in the South. Blinn is now 27-13 overall with a 19-5 mark in the south, while the Ravens remained in second place at 18-6.
“At the end of the day, we came out of it with a one-game lead in the conference, so our destiny is still in our hands,” Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. “So overall, we’re happy with the outcome of the series.”
Although Blinn eventually stuck the landing, it endured some turbulence on the way.
Freshman pitcher Lucas Davenport guided the Bucs in game one with six scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in the top of the seventh frame.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Tanner Reaves)
With Blinn leading 3-0, the first three San Jacinto-North hitters reached to begin the inning, but a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout had the hosts within one out of a victory. The next Raven hitter sent a pop fly high above the infield, but the Blinn defense was unable to corral the ball as two runs crossed the plate.
“Any time you have a shutout going into the seventh, you’d like to see your starting pitcher go out there and finish it,” Hart said. “So, it was just a disappointing loss all the way around. We catch one pop up and we win, but it didn’t work out that way.”
Blinn was unable to push across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, and the Ravens plated five runs in the top of the eighth to earn the win.
“We were winning the entire game and had opportunities to add more runs and we didn’t,” Hart added. “That was definitely about as disappointed as you can be with the outcome of a game.
Blinn totaled four hits, led by a three-hit game for sophomore Tanner Reaves.
Davenport settled for a no-decision after tossing six innings. He allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Bryson Dudley was charged with the loss following two innings of relief.
The Bucs righted the course in game two thanks to a big fourth inning.
Clinging to a 6-5 lead heading into the fourth, Blinn erupted for 10 runs to break the game wide open.
Nine of the Bucs’ 12 hits went for extra bases, including home runs for sophomores Cade Climie and Connor McGinnis, as well as freshman Caden Ferraro. Sophomores Branden Bishop and Brayden Sprencel had two doubles each, and Reaves and sophomore Tony Vernars also recorded a double.
“Showed a lot of grit and heart after losing the way we did in the first game,” Hart said. “We had every reason in the world to pout, lay down, and get swept, but we chose to not let what happened in game one affect us and instead we fought and played hard.”
San Jacinto-North opened the scoring with a single run in the first before Blinn answered with two of its own in the home half of the inning. The Ravens scored three times in the fourth but the Bucs countered with a four spot.
After San Jacinto-North made it a one-run game in the top of the fourth, Blinn got going again in the bottom half.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Brayden Sprencel)
A two-run two-bagger of the bat of Sprencel made it 8-6; Vernars sent a two-run double to center field; Bishop unloaded the bases with a double to left; and Sprencel returned to the plate with an RBI double that made it 16-6.
Climie hit a solo homer to right field in the first, while McGinnis’ two-run shot preceded a solo smash from Ferraro that made it 5-4 in the third.
Sophomore pitcher Ben Bosse earned the win in relief. He worked three innings of two-run ball in which he gave up four hits and a walk while fanning five. Sophomore Brendan Sweeney started for Blinn and lasted 3 2/3 innings while settling for a no-decision.
Blinn’s season continues with a four-game South series against Galveston College beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, in Brenham, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
