After the Blinn College baseball team dropped a one-run ballgame to San Jacinto College-North on March 5, head coach Dusty Hart had a question for the Buccaneers.
“I just asked them if they were tired of losing one-run games,” Hart said, referencing the team’s seven losses by one run this spring.
Blinn answered with an emphatic “Yes” on Thursday as they routed San Jacinto 23-5 in a five-inning Region XIV ballgame at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
The Bucs’ victory evened the four-game series between the region foes to one game apiece.
“We were really locked in from top to bottom, and it was probably the first time all year we’ve had that kind of intensity,” Hart said. “It just shows you what we’re capable of if we lock in and play the game the right way.”
Blinn (11-9, 4-1 Region XIV) put Thursday’s game away early after grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Bucs went on to rack up 12 more runs in the second frame and nine in the third for a 23-0 cushion.
The Ravens broke up the shutout with a three-run fourth frame and tacked on a pair of tallies in the fifth.
Blinn out-hit San Jacinto 13-4.
Sophomores Tanner Reaves and Marshall Lipsey and freshman Lane Allen each hit a home run for the Bucs. Lipsey and sophomores Connor McGinnis, Cade Climie, Tony Vernars, and Matt Whitting finishing with two hits apiece. Allen’s grand slam gave him a team-high four runs batted in. McGinnis doubled and drove in three runs, Reaves had three RBIs, Lipsey had two, and sophomore Coy DeFury also plated a pair of runs.
“We had some balls that found holes, and sometimes you have days like that,” Hart added. “A day like this can get you rolling, though. We just have to keep it going.”
On the mound, sophomore Shane Connell tossed three innings of one-hit ball to earn the win. He walked four and struck out three.
Blinn and San Jacinto will conclude their series with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, in Houston.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
