The Blinn College baseball team completed a seven-game season sweep of Coastal Bend College with victories in both ends of a Region XIV South doubleheader on Saturday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers rallied for a 5-4, eight-inning win over the Cougars in game one before rolling to a 14-4 run-rule victory to end the day.
“It’s hard to beat somebody seven times, it doesn’t matter who they are,” Blinn head Dusty Hart said. “Coastal Bend came out and put some good at bats together and put some pressure on us today, but we didn’t let that affect us. Everybody kept pulling from the same rope and stayed positive.”
The Buccaneers (25-12, 17-4 Region XIV South) used a late-game rally to force extra innings in game one, and walked off with the victory after sophomore Cade Climie smacked an RBI groundball single into center field in the eighth.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Cade Climie, right, and Tony Vernars high five during a game against Coastal Bend on April 6, 2024)
Climie’s game-winning heroics served as a bit of redemption after the third baseman was charged with a pair of fielding errors during the Cougars’ three-run fifth.
“To come back after you make a couple of fielding mistakes and do something like that, it shows the type of competitor Climie is,” Hart said. “He could have let it affect him but he didn’t, and it turned into a big moment for him.”
Blinn led 2-0 after the third frame before Coastal Bend scored one in the fourth and rallied in the fifth.
The Bucs tied the game in the home half of the fifth when sophomore Connor McGinnis and freshman Caden Ferraro each scored on a passed ball.
“We scored on some passed balls that were a result of some really good baserunning,” Hart added. “Our hitters could have tried to force the issue and had bad at bats, but they didn’t. The guys just tried to get on base and strung together good at bats.”
The Bucs finished with 11 hits, including two a piece for Climie and sophomores Tanner Reaves, Marshall Lipsey, and Tony Vernars.
Sophomore relief pitcher Bryson Dudley earned the victory for the Bucs thanks to a pair of scoreless innings. He got out of a jam in the seventh, stranding a pair of Cougars on base, before getting three outs in the eighth to set up the walk-off.
Sophomore Cody Pfeffer worked a scoreless sixth frame, and freshman Lucas Davenport settled for a no-decision following a five-inning start. Davenport allowed four runs (one earned) on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
“We didn’t play the best defense, and that can hurt you. Davenport really stuck in there and got us out of some trouble that could have been worse,” Hart said. “We’ve been able to trust the guys in our bullpen and that’s huge. Any time you go to the bullpen, guys have to come in without having the time to settle in. They have to be good right away. That’s not the easiest job in the world and we’ve been really fortunate so far.”
Game two saw the Bucs bring the boom to the tune of five home runs, two doubles, and a triple.
Ferraro hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first and freshman Lane Allen made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot that made it 3-0.
After Coastal Bend rallied with three runs in the third, Blinn erupted for five runs in its half of the frame.
McGinnis hit an RBI single, Climie doubled in a run, and Ferraro hit his second homer of the day to drive in McGinnis.
Freshman Ryan Williams then scored Allen on a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3.
McGinnis led off the fourth with a solo homer.
Reaves drove in a run on a ground out in the fifth, followed by a sacrifice fly from McGinnis and a three-run homer from Climie to end it.
Climie finished 3 for 4 with four RBIs, while Ferraro, Allen, McGinnis, and Williams had two hits apiece.
On the mound, sophomore Brendan Sweeney earned the win behind four innings of work. He allowed three earned runs on six hits with a pair of walks and two punchouts. Freshman Paxton
Terveen tossed one inning of relief and got the Bucs out of a bases loaded jam with no outs in the top of the fifth with a double play and a ground out.
“That was easily the biggest inning of the entire day,” Hart said. “Really proud of Brendan and Paxton for limiting the damage there and giving us a chance to finish the job.”
Blinn is currently tied for first place with San Jacinto College-North in the Region XIV South and will have a chance to take sole possession of the division’s top spot when the two teams meet next week. The Bucs and Ravens begin a three-game series at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, in Houston, Texas. The series will conclude with a twin bill starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, in Brenham.
The Bucs were originally scheduled to face Region XIV North competitor Navarro College on Monday, April 8, but inclement weather has forced a postponement. A makeup date has yet to be announced.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
