BUC SOFTBALL HAS HUGE WEEKEND AT TEMPLE
Buccaneers sweep trio of games vs. nation’s best teams
FRIDAY
TEMPLE, Texas – Facing a trio of the nation’s top teams, the Blinn College softball team outslugged, outpitched and outran its way to three victories Friday at the Temple Tournament.
The unranked Buccaneers run-ruled sixth-ranked Butler Community College 11-1 and 13th-ranked McLennan Community College 10-0, then beat third-ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO) 4-1.
“Looking at the schedule today, you would have thought these were the tougher games we’d play all season, but the scores didn’t turn out that way,” Blinn (12-3) coach Rick Church said. “To score 25 runs and only give up two was a good day for us.”
In their win over Butler, a pair of five-run innings and six Butler errors led to the easy victory. Against McLennan, the Bucs pounded four home runs by sophomores Sydney Wellmann and Allie Piro, freshman Alli Spivey, and a grand slam courtesy of freshman Jaiden Rawls. In the circle, freshman pitcher Mariah Gibson tossed a one-hitter shutout and struck out four.
Rawls, who started against Butler and NEO, nearly matched that performance vs. NEO—she gave up one run on two hits.
Church said there were no nerves for the two young pitchers.
“When they’ve played at the level they have in high school and travel ball, they’re able to keep it pretty level-headed in these games,” Church said.
And how were they so successful?
“They are changing speeds on their dropballs and curveballs, along with moving their hard pitches around,” Church said. “They are keeping batters out of rhythm where they can’t settle in and get good swings.”
Even without leadoff hitter Carla Noel, who’s out with a hand injury, the Bucs offense poured 25 runs on 26 hits, whether from home runs, soft knocks by Delilah Pacheco or Taylor Guidry, or by capitalizing on the defensive errors.
Spivey and Pacheco each had five hits on the day and Wellmann combined for an eight-RBI day while Rawls drove in another seven runs. Against McLennan, sophomore Peyton Webb was 4-for-4 with two runs scored.
“A lot of people hit the ball well,” Church said.
Seventh-inning rally lifts Buccaneers past Paris
SATURDAY
TEMPLE, Texas – The Blinn softball team was on the verge of getting swept for the first time this season. That is until a Marissa Purcell single sparked a seven-run Buccaneer rally.
Blinn rallied from a 7-5 deficit and beat Paris Junior College 12-7 in its final game of the Temple Tournament here Saturday. The Bucs lost Saturday’s opener 9-7 to Crowder (Mo.) College.
Blinn finished the Temple Tournament 4-1, including wins over third-ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, sixth-ranked Butler and 15th-ranked McLennan on Friday.
Down 7-5 in the top of the seventh against Paris, Purcell’s single scored Allison Artz. After Allie Piro grounded out, Alli Spivey singled to center and the Bucs (13-4) offense responded with five consecutive hits to pull ahead of the Lady Dragons.
Freshman pitcher Jaiden Rawls quickly closed out the game in the bottom half of the inning. After giving up a leadoff single, Rawls induced three straight groundouts. She tossed a complete game, allowed 10 hits, seven runs—three earned—and struck out five.
Freshman Delilah Pacheco was 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Sophomores Peyton Webb and Sydney Wellmann each had two hits, including a two-run home run by Webb in the fourth.
Blinn started out strong against Crowder with a seven-run second inning, but a six-run rally in the sixth inning gave Crowder the final advantage.
Webb and Piro had two hits, and Wellmann knocked in three runs.
Mariah Gibson was tagged with the loss after six innings of work. She gave up 11 hits, nine runs, struck out four and walked three.
For more information on Blinn softball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
(Story & photos courtesy: Matt Keyser, Blinn Information)
For more information on Blinn softball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.