BRENHAM, Texas — Blinn College baseball (16-14, 9-10) totaled five home runs to defeat Wharton County Junior College, 11-0, in five innings, for the conference series win Friday at Leroy Dreyer Field.
The Buccaneers lost the second game of the doubleheader 12-10 to take three out of four games in the conference series.
"I am proud of how our guys hung in there and competed hard for four straight games," said Harvey McIntyre, Blinn head coach.
Blinn 11 – Wharton 0
Blinn's offense sent five home runs over the fence for 10 runs to lead the Buccaneers to an 11-0 run-rule victory over Wharton in five innings.
Jackson Leath recorded the win on the mound after shutting down Wharton's offense and only allowing three hits, while striking out six.
Alec Sanchez led Blinn's offense with two home runs for four RBIs, while Westley Schields, Blake Faecher and Gray Rodgers each drove in two runs.
"Yesterday we started swinging it pretty good and it just carried over today with more intensity," Sanchez said. "It was really fun to bring that momentum into today's games and it feels good to win the series."
Nick Wolff drove in Blinn's first run in the first inning with a single for Cameron Gibbons to score.
Blinn extended its lead to 6-0 in the sixth inning as Sanchez hit a three-run blast and Rodgers followed with a two-run shot over the fence.
The Buccaneers increased their lead to 9-0 in the third inning after Schields hit a two-run homer and Sanchez immediately followed with a solo shot.
Faecher scored Blinn's final two runs in the fourth inning by hitting Blinn's fifth home run.
Wharton 12 – Blinn 10
Wharton rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to defeat Blinn, 12-10, in the doubleheader finale.
Rodgers and Faecher each drove in three runs to lead Blinn's offense.
After Wharton jumped out to a 1-0 start in the first inning, Blinn took back the lead by scoring three runs in the second inning. Faecher scored Blinn's first run on an error, while a triple off the bat of Brett Minninch brought in two runs.
Wharton tied the game 3-3 by scoring two runs in the third inning. From there, the Pioneers grew their lead to 5-3 by tacking on runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Blinn pulled back ahead in the fourth inning with four runs. Rodgers drove in the first two runs with a double to even the score 5-5, while Faecher hit a two-run shot over the fence for the Buccaneers to pull ahead 7-5.
The Pioneers fought back for two runs in the sixth inning to level the score 7-7. However, Blinn answered back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Sanchez scored on an error to begin the inning, and then Rodgers hit a double for Minninch to score. Rodgers later scored on a sacrifice fly for Blinn to lead 10-7.
Wharton rallied back for the victory by scoring two runs in the seventh inning and three runs in the eighth inning.
Next, Blinn will travel to face Galveston College in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 4, starting at 4 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 38 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
