He figured Thursday’s contest was the perfect time to do it.
The freshman outfielder belted a pair of long balls and accounted for six RBIs as the Blinn College baseball team powered past No. 7 San Jacinto College-North 16-9 in the opener of a Region XIV South Zone series at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
“I was just trying to put the ball on the barrel and hit line drives,” said Lipsey, who now has four homers this season. “Everyone in our lineup has the same approach: Do your job, get men on base, move them over, and play for your team. You take that approach to the plate and big things can happen.”
Big things happened all day for the Buccaneers (15-5 overall, 4-1 South Zone), who totaled six doubles and four homers as part of a 15-hit onslaught. Blinn continued to do damage with its plate discipline as well, drawing 10 walks on the day. Eight different Buccaneers had at least one hit, seven players drew at least one walk, and six players accounted for RBIs.
“One of the good things about this group is that nobody cares who gets the credit,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “We have some really good sophomore leaders who understand that it doesn’t always have to be pretty; we just need to keep passing the bat to the next guy and keep competing and fighting.”
Hart praised his team for fighting through what he called “serious adversity” after the Buccaneer defense committed three defensive errors and allowed the Ravens to score six unearned runs.
“I thought we did a great job of just staying in the game,” Hart added. “We didn’t get down on ourselves and we stayed positive, and then we had some guys come up with some big hits.”
The Bucs fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first on a San Jac solo home run but tied the game on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Ian Collier in the bottom of the inning.
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore Ian Collier is congratulated by associate head coach Eric Weaver after hitting a home run against San Jacinto College-North on March 2)
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman Marshall Lipsey hits his second home run of the day during a game against San Jacinto College-North on March 2)
In the second frame, Lipsey crushed a three-run shot to right field that made it 4-1.
The Ravens scored once in the third, three times in the fourth, and once in the fifth to grab a 6-4 cushion, but Blinn answered quickly.
In the home half of the fifth, freshman Tanner Reaves led off with a single and took second on a walk to freshman Shane Martin. Freshman Coy DeFury then singled home Reaves before a double from sophomore Ryan Scott plated Martin for the 6-6 tie. Freshman Kash Durkin then reached on an error that scored two more and put the Bucs ahead for good.
“It was good for us to get our bats going again,” Reaves said. “It was a great, collective team effort to get after San Jac’s starting pitching and get into their bullpen early. We got after them.”
Collier blasted a three-run homer to center in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-6.
San Jacinto cut the lead to 11-9 with three runs in the seventh, but never came any closer.
Lipsey added his second longball of the game – a two-run shot – in the seventh, followed by a solo bomb for freshman Brandon Bishop.
Sophomore Tate Bethel and Lipsey drew bases loaded walks in the eighth to close out the scoring.
Reaves had a stellar day, reaching base six times after going 4 for 4 with two walks. He doubled three times and scored twice. His season batting average climbed to a robust .465 while his on-base percentage swelled to .516.
Collier finished with four RBIs, Durkin drove in two, and Bishop, Scott, and Bethel also accounted for an RBI apiece. Bishop had three hits.
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman Cody Pfeffer delivers a pitch against San Jacinto College-North on March 2)
On the mound, freshman pitcher Cody Pfeffer earned the victory in relief. He allowed six runs (one earned) on eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk across 5 1/3 innings of work. Freshman Shane Connell started and settled for a no-decision after tossing 3 2/3 frames. He allowed three earned runs on four hits with six punchouts and three walks.
The three-game series between the Bucs and Ravens concludes with a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, in Houston, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
