The 16th-ranked Blinn College baseball team dropped the opener of a Region XIV South Zone series against Wharton County Junior College on Tuesday in Wharton, Texas.

The 5-3 setback dropped the Buccaneers to 17-6 on the season and 6-2 in the South Zone.

"We just didn't do what it takes to win a baseball game today," Blinn head coach Dusty Hart said. "It was one of the first times all year where I felt like we tried to force things to happen instead of letting them happen. We weren't ready to play and that falls on me."

The Pioneers (7-1 South Zone) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of a Buccaneer error which led to a pair of runs.

Blinn scored three times in the top of the third on an error and a passed ball.

The Buccaneer finished with four hits – all singles.

"We hit some balls hard, but with the wind blowing in it's hard to hit balls in the air. You have to be able to make adjustments," Hart added. "You're not always going to be hot offensively and score 15 runs. You have to find ways to win those 5-4 or 5-3 games and we didn't do that today."

On the mound, freshman Blane Zeplin absorbed the loss despite a respectable outing. He lasted five innings and allowed four earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

"I thought he settled in," Hart said of Zeplin. "He didn't have his best stuff to start the game, but I thought he recovered to do a good job for us."

The four-game set between the Bucs and Pioneers will resume at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.