BRENHAM, TX -- It didn’t take long for the Blinn Buccaneers to wake up their bats after their first quiet offensive performance in three weeks.
After dropping the first game of Saturday afternoon’s double-header 3-0 at Leroy Dreyer Field, the Buccaneers pounced on Wharton County Junior College in Game 2, scoring early and often in a 12-1 run-rule victory that ended after seven innings.
The Buccaneers, who had tallied at least 10 hits in their four previous games, reached base in the day’s opener but struggled to finish the job as Wharton’s Matt Rhodes forced the Bucs to strand all 10 base runners.
“It wasn’t anything we did or didn’t do. They had a left-hander who threw the ball really well and he didn’t flinch,” Blinn coach Harvey McIntyre said. “We were hot as could be going into today and he just did a great job of pitching.”
The tone for the day was set early, as the Bucs loaded the bases with nobody out but the rally came to a halt when a line drive to third base turned into a double play.
“It was a missile,” McIntyre said.
Rhodes’ shutout spoiled an effective performance from sophomore right-hander Jason Simms, who allowed three earned runs over seven innings. He allowed eight hits and walked two while striking out eight.
“Jason threw outstanding,” McIntyre said. “He threw well enough for us to win.”
The Bucs made sure they didn’t waste another strong pitching performance in the second game, as freshman Eric Wood smacked an RBI single and sophomore Eric Preuss drove in two more with a single to make it 3-0 after an inning. The Bucs rallied for two runs in the second and fourth innings.
Markus Carr went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Holden Cammack went 3-for-4. Tyler Boss went 2-for-3 and drove in a run and Jake Kane doubled and drove in two.
“Eric Preuss swung the bat well the entire series and Markus Carr had a great series for us,” McIntyre said. “When we’ve got the bottom of the order doing some things we can be really productive.”
Sophomore Kevin Hahn threw seven innings for the win, allowing one earned run on six hits and a walk. He struck out six.
Blinn, which won the series opener against Wharton County 8-2 on Friday, improved to 20-11 on the season and 13-9 in the Region XIV Conference race.
The Bucs travel to Austin on Tuesday for a 2 p.m. double-header against Concordia University Texas, and return to conference play Thursday with a 5 p.m. game against Angelina College at Leroy Dreyer Field.
