BLINN SOFTBALL DROPS PAIR OF GAMES AT McLENNAN

WACO, Texas — The Blinn College softball team dropped a pair of games against McLennan Community College despite a strong offensive effort in the first game. Three Buccaneers went deep in the doubleheader opener to secure a six-run lead, but the Highlassies rallied back for a 10-9 win. McLennan carried the momentum into the second game to defeat Blinn, 12-1, in five innings.

“Another tough loss in game one and in game two we didn’t recover,” head coach Rick Church said. “We had a six-run lead in the first game and couldn’t finish things off. We give credit to McLennan for its competitive tenacity.”

With the pair of losses, the Buccaneers now hold a 1-5 overall record.

McLennan 10 – Blinn 9 

Late runs allowed McLennan to come out on top of an offensive showdown and defeat Blinn, 10-9, in the doubleheader opener.

The Buccaneers tallied 12 hits as Chloe Woodward racked up three, and Mikaela Lopez and Skylar Shanahan each had two. Shaelyn Sanders and Lopez each hit two-run homers, while Shanahan hit a double and launched a solo shot to lead the offense.

Sanders started the game in the circle for the Buccaneers. She surrendered five earned runs and 10 hits, while striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings. Nevada Dolnik pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and gave up just one earned run and three hits.

The Buccaneers had a six-run fourth inning and held a 9-5 advantage in the fifth inning. However, the Highlassies were able to score one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and two runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to rally for a 10-9 victory.

Earlier in the game, McLennan was the first on the board with two runs in the first inning. Blinn scored one run in the second inning when Sanders scored on a fielder’s choice and one run in the third inning when Shanahan hit a solo home run to tie the game.

Blinn put together a fourth inning with six hits, including two home runs, and six runs. Reagan Majewski scored the first run on Woodward’s single, while Chandler Talbot scored the next run on an error. Lopez and Sanders hit back-to-back two-run homers for Blinn to extend its lead to 8-2.

McLennan answered back with three runs in the fourth inning, but Blinn maintained an 8-5 lead.

Samantha Rodriguez scored on an error in error in the fifth inning for Blinn’s final run. McLennan rallied for the next five runs for the victory.

McLennan 12 – Blinn 1  

McLennan carried over its success on offense to the second game of the doubleheader for a 12-1 win in five innings.

Shanahan, Lopez, Woodward, and Italie Speziale-Potter all had hits for the Buccaneers, and Shanahan scored Blinn’s lone run.

The Highlassies scored six runs in the first inning, four runs in the second, and one run in the third for an 11-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Lopez, Shanahan and Speziale-Potter all hit singles to load the bases, and Shanahan scored on an error.

McLennan scored its final run in the bottom of the fourth inning, and kept Blinn off the board in the fifth for the win.

Next, Blinn will travel to face off against Temple College in a doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 10, starting at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(COURTESY: Tara Dreyer, Blinn Information)