A 9-0 win in game one and an 11-3, seven-inning triumph in the finale pushed the Buccaneers past the Pioneers and increased Blinn’s first-place lead in the South to three games.
“It was a great day to be a Buc,” Buccaneer head coach Dusty Hart said. “When we show up to the field locked in and ready to go, and everybody is buying in and pulling for each other, we can beat anybody in the country – I firmly believe that.”
In sweeping Wharton County, Blinn won three consecutive ballgames and now leads San Jacinto College-North by three games for first place in the South and for home-field advantage throughout the Region XIV Tournament.
“The regular season is coming to an end so we have to kick things into high gear,” sophomore pitcher Sam Crain said. “Every single day you want to win – you don’t want to need other teams to lose, you want to be the ones to take care of business. So, that’s all that matters right now.”
In game one, Crain lived by his words with his best performance of the year.
The talented left-hander faced 22 hitters (one over the minimum) in a seven-inning, complete-game effort. Crain allowed just two hits, struck out nine, and didn’t allow a walk. He allowed a leadoff single in the first frame, but after that baserunner was caught stealing second, Crain proceeded to set down 17 straight batters before allowing a single to begin the seventh. He promptly induced two ground balls and struck out the last hitter he faced to end the game.
“The wind was blowing in, so it was a great day to pitch,” Crain said. “I really just had to pound the zone and let the defense work, and they made some great plays behind me. I just had to set the tone and get our guys back in the dugout so they could go score some runs and not let Wharton get any momentum.”
Added Hart: “That was about as good as you can throw without throwing a no-hitter.”
The Buccaneer offense backed Crain with 11 hits while also drawing eight walks.
Blinn grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but pulled away with a six-run second frame. Two more runs in the fourth closed the scoring.
Sophomore Ryan Scott had two hits and scored twice, while freshmen Tanner Reaves and Brayden Sprencel also had a pair of hits each. Freshman Coy DeFury drove in two runs, and Sprencel and freshman Jake Kolkhorst also plated one run apiece. Scott and sophomore Tate Bethel both doubled.
“Today was not an easy day to hit,” Hart said. “We did a really good job of being unselfish, that’s really what it boiled down to. Our guys were unselfish and stayed in the game.”
In game two, freshman Kaden Dydalewicz gave Blinn another stellar outing. The hard-throwing righty worked 5 2/3 innings of three-hit ball. He allowed three runs (one earned) while punching out six and walking two.
“I thought he threw the ball really well and I was really happy with his effort,” Hart said. “The work he’s put in to get back and help this team says a lot about Kaden as a person and a competitor. He and Crain both have a chance to be that workhorse-type guy, and their re-emergence gives our entire team more depth.”
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore Tate Bethel tags out a Wharton County baserunner at second base during a game April 16)
At the plate the Bucs dug themselves out of a 1-0 deficit in the second inning when Scott singled on a bunt, leading to an error that sent sophomore Ian Collier to the plate. One out later, Sprencel doubled in Bethel and Scott for a 3-1 lead. Freshman Matt Whitting singled in Sprencel to make it 4-1.
Blinn tallied two runs in the third, and after the Pioneers pulled within 6-3 in the sixth, freshman Brandon Bishop kept the Bucs in control with a three-run homer in the home half of the sixth. Blinn added two more runs in the seventh.
Bishop, Kolkhorst, Sprencel, and Whitting each had two hits, while Sprencel matched Bishop with three RBIs. Reaves and Whitting also drove in a run. Bethel, Scott, and Kolkhorst each scored two runs.
“When the wind is blowing in, you have to keep passing the bat down the lineup,” Hart added. “When the guys go out there and give it an honest effort and try to do what you’re asking them to do, it’s what makes you proud as a coach.”
Up next, the Buccaneers begin a four-game series with Coastal Bend College at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 43 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
