HOUSTON, Texas — Blinn College baseball (28-21, 19-16) fell to San Jacinto College-North, 10-9, in the 11th inning to conclude the regular season on the road.
Earlier in the day, San Jacinto defeated the Buccaneers, 3-1.
Blinn will enter the NJCAA Region XIV Baseball Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South Division.
San Jacinto 3 – Blinn 1
Although Blinn and San Jacinto's defenses each allowed only four hits in the doubleheader opener, the Gators came out on top, 3-1.
Blinn's pitching was dominant as John Chomko started the game for Blinn and allowed just two earned runs on three hits in three innings of work. Jace Hutchins came in for two innings and surrendered one run on one hit, while Kyle Gough closed out the game without giving up a hit in the sixth inning.
Brett Minninch led the offense with two hits, a double and triple, and one run, while Bailey Deramus and Reggie McCalister each tallied one hit.
San Jacinto jumped on Blinn for a 2-0 lead in the first inning that the Gators held onto.
The Buccaneers cut the Gators' lead in half in the second inning when Minninch scored on an error, but San Jacinto scored the final run of the game in the fifth inning for the win.
San Jacinto 10 – Blinn 9
San Jacinto pulled off an extra-inning win in a high-scoring game to sweep the Buccaneers after walking off with a 10-9 victory in the 11th inning.
Matt Crossley went 4-for-6 to lead Blinn's offense with four RBIs and three runs, while Connor Klussman drove in two runs and Nick Wolff scored two runs.
On defense, Matt Swick and Grayson Smith recorded two hitless innings, while AJ Irvin pitched one scoreless inning.
Blinn jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Richard Bailey scored on a wild pitch, Crossley hit a two-run single for Jake Miller to score, and Wolff and Klussman walked the bases loaded.
San Jacinto landed on the board with one run in the bottom of the first inning and added four runs in the second inning for a 5-4 lead. The Gators held the lead until Blinn tied the game in the fifth inning when Crossley doubled and then scored on Kevin House's single.
San Jacinto took back a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning, but the Buccaneers pulled back ahead in the seventh inning by scoring three runs. Crossley and Cody Cegielski each hit doubles for Wolff and Crossley to score and tie the game. Then, House scored on a groundout for Blinn to take an 8-7 lead.
San Jacinto fought back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 9-8 advantage.
Blinn evened the score in the eighth inning as Cody Vinklarek led off with a single and scored on Crossley's double.
The game remained tied until the 11th inning when San Jacinto scored one run for the walk-off win.
Next, Blinn will open the NJCAA Region XIV Baseball Tournament on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. against the No. 3 seed in the East Division at Lamar University.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
