Highlanders top Bucs
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Blinn College
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
|
McLennan Community College
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | X | 6 | 8 | 1 |
The McLennan Highlanders came from behind to defeat the Blinn Buccaneers 6-3 this afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark. Payton Strambler got the win on the mound for the Highlanders and Daniel Cole picked up the save.
Blinn jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Brandon Ashy led off with a single, Hunter Trinidad bunted for a single and Zach Cherry walked to load the bases. Ashy came in to score on a passed ball; and Jake Miller singled to score Trinidad.
McLennan got on the board with one run in the bottom of the fourth as Keaton Milford doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and stole home.
The Bucs added a run in the top of the eighth. Gray Rodgers singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Miller and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Reggie McCalister drew a walk, and Rodgers scored on a sacrifice by Cameron Gibbons.
The Highlanders sealed the win with five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Aidan Shepardson was hit by the pitch, Josh Breaux singled and Milford laid down a bunt to load the bases. Shepardson came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Thomas Santos, and Griffin Paxton drew a walk. Chase Sortor then singled and Blinn's centerfield let it roll all the way to the wall, letting Breaux, Milford, Paxton and Sortor all score.
"I thought that our pitchers all day long threw the ball very well. We sent six different pitchers out there and to strike out 18 batters is outstanding," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "Our stuff was good on the mound. Every one of the guys threw well and that's a good sign for things to come from us on the mound."
"Offensively, we hit some balls hard but we had some poor at-bats at times where we could've scored runs, and missed a few opportunities early in the ballgame. Thankfully we put some at-bats all together in the eighth inning and were able to score five runs to take the win," Thompson said. "It was good win overall and now we have to get ready to start conference Wednesday."
McLennan begins conference play Wednesday with a noon doubleheader at Hill.
McLennan 6, Blinn 3
Blinn 200 000 010 – 3 5 2
McLennan 000 100 05x – 6 8 1
Brice Armistead, Kyle Sweeney (5), Zach Smith (8), Chance Norman (8) and Brandon Ashy, Marshall Skinner (7). Levi David, Nick Urbantke (4), Jase Embry (6), Tristen Bayless (7), Payton Strambler (8), Daniel Cole (9) and Nick Thornquist. WP: Strambler; LP: Sweeney; SV: Cole. Leading hitters – Blinn: Jake Miller (1-3, RBI) and Cameron Gibbons (0-3, RBI); McLennan: Keaton Milford (2-4, 2B), Chase Sortor (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Thomas Santos (0-0, RBI). Record: McLennan 13-5.