BUCS SOFTBALL SPLITS ROUND ROBIN TWINBILL

Buccaneers battle contrast in pitching at Round Robin

If there’s one thing the Blinn softball team learned Sunday, it’s that pitching can make a world of difference.

“There was a far cry of difference between the two games,” Blinn (5-2) coach Rick Church said.

Against Grayson, the Blinn offense did exactly what it was supposed to do.

The Bucs pounded out 10 runs on 12 hits, including a three-run home run by Sydney Wellmann in the first inning that cleared the left field wall.

Blinn continued to pack it on in the fourth when Marissa Purcell hit an RBI triple that scored Alli Spivey, and Carley Latta and Carla Noel hit back-to-back doubles to extend Blinn’s lead.

“That’s what you’re supposed to do when they leave the ball over the plate like that and don’t change speeds,” Church said. “We got a lot of good swings and got a lot of people on.”

It looked as if Blinn would continue that production against Temple as the Bucs had runners in scoring position in the first, but Temple got out of the jam when it forced freshman Jaiden Rawls to pop up to end the inning.

 Blinn capitalized in the second when Avery Mullendore scored on a single by Noel. The Bucs nearly made it a 2-0 game, but sophomore Taylor Guidry was thrown out at the plate on what Church called “a perfect throw.”

“You want to test the defense and make people make plays,” he said. “She just made an on-the-money throw.”

Temple made it a 2-1 game in the top of the third, then went ahead 3-2 after Blinn tied it in the bottom half of the third when Allison Artz scored on a single by Guidry.

“We let Temple off the hook today,” Church said. “We had a lot of runners, we just couldn’t do enough damage.”

Temple has handed Blinn both of its losses this season—the first coming in a 7-3 defeat at the Galveston College Invitational on Feb. 1.

“I thought we would come back today and compete and have a little bit more grit,” Church said. “But Temple is a very good team.”

Noel, the Bucs’ leadoff hitter, had five hits and three RBI on the day. It’s just the kind of production Church wants out of his leadoff hitter.

“She’s continuing the success she had from last week. She had a good outing today, and that’s why we’ve got her at the top of the lineup to get as many at-bats as possible,” Church said.

For more information on Blinn softball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(Story & photos courtesy: Matt Keyser, Blin Information)