The fourth-ranked Blinn College baseball team split a doubleheader with No. 3 Weatherford College on Tuesday in Weatherford, Texas.
The Buccaneers earned a 2-1 victory to open the twin bill but dropped the nightcap 9-5.
“On the road against a good team, you don’t get the opportunity for a sweep in that situation very often,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “So, in that regard I was disappointed. In the end, though, we got a bunch of guys on the mound that needed some innings and we saw a lot that we liked.”
Blinn (4-4 overall) scraped together just enough offense in the opener to support a strong effort from its pitching staff.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Sweeney worked four scoreless frames on the mound, allowing just three hits with no walks while striking out three Coyotes. Sophomore Taylor Calcote was charged with an earned run in 1 2/3 innings before sophomore Cody Pfeffer came on with two outs in the sixth.
Pfeffer was the pitcher of record, getting the final four outs with two strikes while giving up a pair of hits.
The game was scoreless until the sixth inning when the Bucs broke through on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Cade Climie. Sophomore Connor McGinnis doubled to open the frame before moving to third on a fly out from sophomore Tanner Reaves.
Weatherford tied the ballgame in the home half of the sixth.
“Sweeney went out there and did a good job of commanding the zone, and he showed off some good off-speed pitches. He really did a nice job for us,” Hart added. “We had some adversity at the end of the game where we gave up the tying run, and there was a chance we could have let it slip away from us, but we were able to fight and work through it.”
(Pictured: From left, Blinn’s Brendan Sweeney and Kash Durkin)
The Bucs pushed the winning run across in the seventh inning when sophomore Brandon Bishop came home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of sophomore Kash Durkin.
Blinn finished the game with three base hits, with sophomore Tanner Reaves leading the way with a 2-for-3 outing.
Pfeffer allowed a one-out single in the home half of the seventh, but punched out the next hitter he faced before inducing a game-ending flyout to end it.
In game two, Blinn’s bats got going a little too late as the Coyotes held on for the win.
Weatherford built a 6-0 lead through the first five innings of play before the Bucs answered in the sixth. A bases loaded triple to right field off the bat of sophomore Marshall Lipsey pulled the visitors within 6-3.
The Coyotes tallied three more runs in the seventh, and Blinn answered once more in the eighth when freshman Tavion Vaughns smashed a two-run home run to left field.
The Bucs finished with seven hits.
On the mound, freshman righty Paxton Terveen took the loss after a three-inning stint. He allowed four earned runs on six hits with one strikeout and one walk.
“If we had made some routine plays and some pitches in critical situations, I think the second game would have been a little closer,” Hart said.
Blinn’s season continues with a three-game series against No. 11 McLennan College. The Bucs will travel to Waco, Texas, for the opener of the set at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, before returning home for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
