BRENHAM, Texas – Four Blinn College pitchers held the Weatherford Coyotes in check at Leroy Dreyer Field Friday night as the Buccaneers opened a five-game homestand with a 5-1 victory.
Sophomore Taylor Cobb earned the win after refusing to allow an earned run through five innings. Cobb scattered six hits and struck out four without walking a batter. It was his first outing since a tough loss to New Mexico Junior College on Feb. 9.
“I was really excited and anxious to see him bounce back,” Blinn (4-6) coach Harvey McIntyre said. “He pitched with a chip on his shoulder and he was phenomenal.”
Cobb left the game with mild tightness in his elbow.
“He could have gone deeper but we wanted to take him out just to be sure,” McIntyre said.
Robert Dickey threw a scoreless inning of relief, Tyler Day retired the only batter he faced and Wesley Wick threw 2 2/3 shutout innings to close out the game.
Michael Vielma went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Cobb went 2-for-4 with an RBI to support his own cause and Scott Jones drove in a run as the Buccaneers scored in five different innings.
Three Weatherford pitchers combined to walk 10 Blinn batters.
“I think we took something away from them early because we didn’t expand our strike zone,” McIntyre said. “Our hitters really made them work.”
The Buccaneers got on the scoreboard in the first inning when Vielma drew a bases-loaded walk. Holden Cammack scored on a balk in the second inning, and Jones added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give the Bucs a 3-1 lead.
Vielma hit an RBI double in the fifth and Cobb added an RBI single in the eighth to produce the final score.
The Buccaneers meet Weatherford again Saturday for a 1 p.m. double-header at Leroy Dreyer Field. Blinn will play nine of its next 10 games at home.
For more information on Blinn baseball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.