The moment, some 20-plus years in the making, was made possible by the Buccaneers’ region doubleheader sweep of Coastal Bend College at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas. A come-from-behind 6-4 win in the opener and a 15-5 run-rule victory in the finale delivered Blinn the South Zone championship and home field advantage for the South’s half of the Region XIV Tournament.
Blinn is now 36-13 overall and 23-9 in the South, its most conference victories since the 2018 Buccaneers went 25-8.
“We don’t run from things; we talked about it Friday in practice that the magic number (to clinch) was two,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “My expectation is to win the conference every year – that’s never going to change. It’s something you work for every day; it’s not something you just show and have happen. We didn’t just show up on April 22, get lucky and win our region. It’s an accumulation of our guys’ work and commitment every single day.”
Blinn has four regular-season ballgames remaining, including three region tilts against Galveston College that will serve as the Bucs’ final postseason warm-up.
Blinn got off to a strong start Saturday when sophomore Ryan Scott catapulted his team to victory with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Scott’s homer made a winner out of freshman pitcher Cody Pfeffer, who tossed 1 1/3 frames of relief. He allowed two hits and fanned three Cougars.
Recent Baylor University commit Sam Crain started for Blinn and settled for a no-decision. The left-handed sophomore allowed four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Sophomore Ian Collier belted a three-run homer in the home half of the first to give Blinn a 3-0 lead, and freshman Tanner Reaves later added a solo shot to break a 3-3 tie in the third frame.
Coastal Bend tied the game at four in the top of the fourth.
“That was a different Coastal Bend team than we played earlier in the season,” Hart added. “They played hard and swung the bats well against us. They played us as hard as anybody the entire year.”
Blinn finished game one with six hits, led by a two-hit, two-walk showing for Scott.
Saturday’s finale ended in wild fashion, as the Bucs prevailed via the run rule thanks to a wild play in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ahead 12-5 with two outs and the bases loaded, freshman Jake Kolkhorst sent a pop fly to center field. The fly ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing the three Buccaneer baserunners to cross the plate for the win.
“It was a crazy way to end a game,” said Hart. “I didn’t even realize the game was over, that’s how wild it was.”
The Bucs began the game in a 2-0 hole but rallied out of it in the bottom of the second when freshman Matt Whitting scored Kolkhorst with an RBI groundout and freshman Marshall Lipsey slapped an RBI single to left field that sent sophomore Tate Bethel to the plate.
The Cougars took their final lead of the game with two runs in the third, but Blinn tied it up again with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Then in the fourth, Collier’s two-run double highlighted a four-run inning for the Bucs as they jumped ahead 8-4.
Coastal Bend scored its final run in the fifth, and Blinn answered with four more in the bottom of the inning.
Kolkhorst led the Bucs’ 13-hit attack with four hits, including two doubles, and six RBIs. Lipsey and Reaves had three hits apiece, while Collier added two. Blinn drew eight walks, led by three free passes for Scott.
On the mound, freshman Kaden Dydalweicz improved to 4-0 with 4 2/3 innings of work. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Freshman Blane Zeplin got the final four outs of the ballgame, striking out three with two walks.
Up next, the Bucs will travel to face Temple College at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 24, in Temple, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 43 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
