The fifth-ranked Blinn College baseball team made sure a disappointing start to the Region XIV South Regional Tournament wasn’t followed by an abrupt finish.
The Buccaneers bounced back from Thursday’s first-round loss with a convincing 9-1, seven-inning win over Northeast Texas Community College in consolation play Friday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.
With the victory, Blinn (41-13) keeps its season going as it looks to advance to the Region XIV Super Regional for a third consecutive year.
The Bucs will now take on Paris Junior College in a first-round rematch. The two teams meet in consolation play at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Brenham, with the winner advancing to face Wharton County Junior College at 6 p.m., also Saturday. Paris topped Blinn 4-3 to begin the tournament on Thursday, but fell to Wharton County 14-6 in Friday’s semifinal matchup.
(Pictured: Blinn’s delivers a pitch against Northeast Texas Community College on May 9, 2025)
The Bucs rebounded from their first-round loss with an impressive triumph over Northeast Texas.
“We’ve been playing kind of tight, which sometimes it’s human nature to want to do a little too much in certain situations; especially in big moments in the postseason,” Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. “Once one guy broke through today, I think everybody relaxed and played Blinn Buc baseball.”
Before Blinn’s offense found its groove, sophomore Brok Eddy put forth a performance worthy of win-or-go-home stakes. The hard-throwing right-hander gave up three hits in the first inning and allowed an earned run on a sacrifice fly, but was otherwise untouchable during a complete-game effort.
He gave up six hits, walked one, and struck out six while improving to 10-3 on the year. Fifty-four of Eddy’s 83 pitches went for strikes as he lowered his earned run average to 1.96.
“We were on our backs coming into today, but we’ve been working hard the entire season and fought hard to get to this point; what mattered today was coming in and playing our hardest and having fun,” Eddy said. “I pitched to contact today, got my defense involved and trusted those guys, and that’s what allowed me to go the distance.”
The Bucs were still trailing 1-0 before freshman Kason Atkins got his team going in the bottom of the fourth.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Trey Craig follows through on a base hit against Northeast Texas Community College on May 9, 2025)
After sophomore Bennett Fryman led off with a single and freshman Trey Craig added a one-out base hit, Atkins doubled on a line drive to center field to make it a 1-1 ballgame. Freshman Drew Britton followed with an RBI groundout before Atkins came home on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Fryman singled with one out and sophomore Lane Allen drew a walk before Craig made it 6-1 when he blasted a three-run home run into the trees in left field.
“I hunted for a pitch that I could drive, I took a swing, and made good contact,” Craig said. “That was the magic we wanted to see, honestly. We had a bit of a dip against Paris but we know what we’re capable of as an offense and I think today was us getting back on track.”
Sophomore Matt Quintanar added a two-run shot to make it 8-1 in the sixth, and sophomore Ryder McDaniel put the run rule into effect when he doubled in Atkins in the home half of the seventh.
Craig paced Blinn’s 13-hit attack with three hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Fryman also had three hits and two runs. Quintanar and McDaniel finished with two hits apiece.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.
