BLINN SPLITS TWO GAMES AT NATIONAL PREVIEW TOURNAMENT

The Blinn College softball team split its first two games of the National Preview Tournament on Thursday at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.

The Buccaneers fell to No. 13 Indian Hills Community College, 3-2, before earning a 2-0 win over Wallace Community College.

Blinn is now 10-3 overall with four more ballgames remaining in the tournament.

In the opener, the Bucs jumped out to a 1-0 lead over Indian Hills thanks to an RBI single from Skylar Shanahan in the top of the first inning. 

The Warriors tied the game in the third and took the lead with two in the fifth. Blinn started a rally in the seventh, getting an RBI double from freshman Alayna Calvillo to cut its deficit to one, but Calvillo was stranded at second base to end the game.

Blinn finished with eight hits. Sophomore Madeline Stephenson went 3 for 3 with a double and a run scored.

“After we scored the run in the first, Indiana Hills took momentum away from us,” Bucs head coach Rick Church said. “We tried to come back in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough. Chloee (Mason) pitched well enough; we just didn’t have enough support for her.”

Mason, a sophomore, tossed six innings. She allowed two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

In Blinn’s second game of the day, sophomore Emily Kristynik smacked a two-out solo home run in the first inning to give her team all the offense it needed. However, in the sixth, the Bucs got an insurance run off the bat of sophomore Kenley Strange when she scored Kristynik with a sacrifice fly.

Shanahan did her part in the pitcher’s circle, tossing five scoreless innings. She allowed five hits with four punchouts and three walks. Freshman Sydnie Cline came on in relief to toss two scoreless frames for the save. She fanned three.

“We came back in the second game and got a much-needed win,” added Church. “There weren’t many runs today, but we did get a victory out of it. We have to get better offensively tomorrow and produce some more runs.”

The Bucs will battle sixth-ranked Chattanooga State Community College at noon today (Friday) followed by a tilt against No. 5 Wallace State-Hanceville at 4 p.m.

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information