Behind a quality start from Caden Marcum and some clutch hitting, the 19th-ranked Blinn College baseball team earned an 8-3 Region XIV South victory over Galveston College on Tuesday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
“I thought that tonight we did a really good job of just playing baseball,” Buccaneers head coach Dusty Hart said. “As far as executing and doing the small things that it takes to win close ballgames, we did them. We moved runners over without having to bunt, we got a couple of bunts down, too, and our pitchers threw strikes. I thought it was an old-fashioned, old-school game of baseball on our end.”
The Bucs are now 28-13 overall, while Hart moved to 699 career wins.
Blinn got a strong outing from the hard-throwing Marcum, who picked up his second win of the season behind five innings of two-run ball. He gave up three hits, walked two, and fanned six Whitecaps.
Marcum’s only two mistakes resulted in back-to-back home runs for Galveston, but the freshman settled in to throw a scoreless fifth frame to end his day.
“I was really proud of him stepping up for us,” Hart said of Marcum. “He threw really well. The two times he got behind in the count and didn’t land his off-speed pitches, Galveston made him pay, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. But he still gave us a good outing. He was landing his sliders and change-ups and got some swings and misses. If he can land his off-speed stuff, he’s going to have success.”
The Bucs broke up a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore Connor McGinnis sent a two-run homer – his 13th of the season – to right field before sophomore Brandon Bishop followed with a long ball to left.
McGinnis made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single in the fifth, and sophomore Marshall Lipsey scored on a nifty slide in the sixth that was made possible by a sacrifice fly from sophomore Tony Vernars.
Sophomore Coy DeFury capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Sophomore pitcher Bryson Dudley provided a key moment for Blinn on the mound in the top of the eighth when he entered with one out and two runners on. He walked the first hitter he faced but quickly rebounded by inducing a ground-ball double play to get out of the jam.
“That’s a big-time pitch in a big-time moment,” Hart said. “For Dudley to get us out of the inning, that’s huge. He’s been good for us all year; he’s just been that guy.”
Dudley recorded the final five outs of the game to earn his third save. Sophomore Cody Pfeffer worked a scoreless sixth inning and got two outs in the seventh, and sophomore Jake Kolkhorst allowed an earned run while getting the final out in the seventh and the first out of the eighth.
McGinnis, Lipsey, and DeFury paced the Bucs’ nine-hit attack with two hits apiece.
Blinn and Galveston continue their four-game series with a 3 p.m. ballgame on Thursday, April 18, in Galveston, Texas. The two teams conclude the series with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
Behind a quality start from Caden Marcum and some clutch hitting, the 19th-ranked Blinn College baseball team earned an 8-3 Region XIV South victory over Galveston College on Tuesday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
“I thought that tonight we did a really good job of just playing baseball,” Buccaneers head coach Dusty Hart said. “As far as executing and doing the small things that it takes to win close ballgames, we did them. We moved runners over without having to bunt, we got a couple of bunts down, too, and our pitchers threw strikes. I thought it was an old-fashioned, old-school game of baseball on our end.”
The Bucs are now 28-13 overall, while Hart moved to 699 career wins.
Blinn got a strong outing from the hard-throwing Marcum, who picked up his second win of the season behind five innings of two-run ball. He gave up three hits, walked two, and fanned six Whitecaps.
Marcum’s only two mistakes resulted in back-to-back home runs for Galveston, but the freshman settled in to throw a scoreless fifth frame to end his day.
“I was really proud of him stepping up for us,” Hart said of Marcum. “He threw really well. The two times he got behind in the count and didn’t land his off-speed pitches, Galveston made him pay, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. But he still gave us a good outing. He was landing his sliders and change-ups and got some swings and misses. If he can land his off-speed stuff, he’s going to have success.”
The Bucs broke up a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore Connor McGinnis sent a two-run homer – his 13th of the season – to right field before sophomore Brandon Bishop followed with a long ball to left.
McGinnis made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single in the fifth, and sophomore Marshall Lipsey scored on a nifty slide in the sixth that was made possible by a sacrifice fly from sophomore Tony Vernars.
Sophomore Coy DeFury capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Sophomore pitcher Bryson Dudley provided a key moment for Blinn on the mound in the top of the eighth when he entered with one out and two runners on. He walked the first hitter he faced but quickly rebounded by inducing a ground-ball double play to get out of the jam.
“That’s a big-time pitch in a big-time moment,” Hart said. “For Dudley to get us out of the inning, that’s huge. He’s been good for us all year; he’s just been that guy.”
Dudley recorded the final five outs of the game to earn his third save. Sophomore Cody Pfeffer worked a scoreless sixth inning and got two outs in the seventh, and sophomore Jake Kolkhorst allowed an earned run while getting the final out in the seventh and the first out of the eighth.
McGinnis, Lipsey, and DeFury paced the Bucs’ nine-hit attack with two hits apiece.
Blinn and Galveston continue their four-game series with a 3 p.m. ballgame on Thursday, April 18, in Galveston, Texas. The two teams conclude the series with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
