BUCS SPLIT CONFERENCE DOUBLEHEADER WITH LAMAR STATE

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College softball team settled for a twin bill split against Region XIV South foe Lamar State College-Port Arthur on Wednesday at Hohlt Park in Brenham, Texas.

Sophomore Paige Bunting pitched the Buccaneers to a 4-1 victory over the Seahawks in game one, but Blinn fell short in the finale as Lamar State prevailed 10-8.

The Bucs are now 13-21 overall and 9-5 in the South, where they remain in second place.

In the opener, Bunting (6-9) tossed a four-hit complete game.

She allowed an unearned run and struck out four while maneuvering around six walks. 

"I felt pretty good today," Bunting said. "I think my change-up helped me a ton and I used it a lot today. I faced Lamar State for seven innings earlier this season, so I wanted to mix things up and keep them off balance."

The Seahawks tallied a run in the top of the first inning, but Blinn answered with a two-run home run from sophomore Bailey Boetjer in the home half of the frame.

Boetjer's sacrifice fly made it 3-1 in the third, and sophomore pitcher/infielder Bella De Los Santos added an RBI double to close out the scoring in the fifth.

Blinn finished with seven hits, including two apiece for sophomores Darian De Leon and T'Era Garrett, as well as De Los Santos in her first stint in the lineup this season. De Los Santos served exclusively in the Bucs' pitching rotation before assuming second base duties Wednesday.

Blinn came out firing in game two and built an early 6-4 lead, but defensive miscues hindered the Bucs and led to seven unearned runs for Lamar State.

The Seahawks took the lead for good with a five-run fourth.

The Bucs had a chance to rally with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but three consecutive singles were squandered by a pair of baserunning errors which resulted in the final two outs of the inning.

Blinn tallied 14 hits, paced by a 4-for-4, three-RBI performance for Boetjer. De Leon added three hits and freshmen Cadence Wiese and Annie Beckendorf tacked on two apiece. Beckendorf had two RBIs.

Freshman starting pitcher Brynn Gallamore suffered the loss for the Bucs despite allowing just two earned runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts across three innings of work.

Blinn's season continues with a South home doubleheader against Coastal Bend College at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Hohlt Park in Brenham.

4/3/25 9:15AM UPDATE: Due to the threat of inclement weather in the forecast, Saturday's games against Coastal Bend have been postponed until Tuesday, April 15. Blinn's next home games will be Monday at 2pm against Alvin at Hohlt Park in Brenham.