BLINN SOFTBALL SWEEPS ANGELINA IN TWIN BILL

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College softball team outlasted Angelina College for a much-needed sweep of a Region XIV South doubleheader Saturday in Lufkin, Texas.

The Buccaneers won 8-5 in game one before prevailing 10-9 in nine innings in the finale.

Blinn (19-21 overall, 15-5 South) continued its recent South hot streak as the Bucs earned their sixth consecutive victory and ninth in their past 10 games. Blinn remained just .028 percentage points behind first-place Galveston College (14-4) in the South standings. 

The Bucs rallied out of a three-run deficit to earn the victory in the opener and survived a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth to claim game two.

"It was a big day, and it was great to get two more region wins," Blinn head coach Rick Church said. "Earlier in the season, we were finding ways to lose games like these; now we're finding ways to win them. That's really encouraging."

The day ended with a heavy dose of dramatics as the Bucs fended off a Roadrunners rally in the home half of the ninth.

Blinn took a 10-7 advantage into the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single from freshman Halle Scheel and a two-run single from freshman Annie Beckendorf.

The Bucs needed all three tallies as Angelina rallied in its final at bat.

A single followed by back-to-back one-out walks had the Roadrunners on the bring, and after a fielder's choice out, a two-run single had the hosts within one.

Freshman pitcher Madisyn Bracknell, who re-entered the ball game with one out in the ninth, hit the next batter she faced before inducing a flyout with the bases loaded to end the game.

Bracknell was awarded the rare save (her second) after she began the ballgame as the Bucs' starting pitcher. She finished with 4 1/3 innings in the pitcher's circle and allowed two earned runs on six hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.

"Angelina never gave up and kept fighting, but we showed good composure there at the end," Church added. "We had some issues with our intensity throughout the day, but we found it again at the right time there at the end."

Freshman Brynn Gallamore and game-one starter Paige Bunting also pitched for Blinn. Sophomore Bella De Los Santos (5-3) got one out in the eighth and ninth frames to earn the win.

The Bucs built a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth frame. Angelina rallied with a single tally in the fourth, three more in the fifth, and two in the seventh.

Blinn's offense matched the Roadrunners with 13 hits.

Sophomore Darian DeLeon had three hits, a walk, three runs, and an RBI. Scheel (three runs), Beckendorf, and De Los Santos had two hits apiece. Sophomore Bailey Boetjer and Beckendorf had two RBIs apiece.

In the opener, the Roadrunners struck first with three runs in the first inning, but the Bucs chipped away before surging ahead in the fifth and sixth frames.

Sophomore Grace Bracken hit an RBI single in the top of the second to get Blinn on the board, and a Boetjer RBI double followed by a Beckendorf RBI single tied the game in the third.

In the fifth, freshman Caden Wiese hit her sixth home run of the year to make it 4-3. The inning continued with a walk and a single before a wild pitch brought Beckendorf home for another run. 

Boetjer clobbered a three-run homer – her 11th of the season – in the sixth to make it 8-3.

Blinn's 13-hit attack was paced by a three-hit performance from Wiese. Boetjer had two hits and four RBIs, and Scheel, Bracken, and freshman Kacie Dudensing also had two hits.

The Roadrunners scored twice in the seventh before Bunting, who tossed a complete game for Blinn, fanned the next hitter she faced before inducing a pop out to end it.

Bunting won her fifth consecutive decision and improved to 9-9. She allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

Up next, the Bucs host Coastal Bend College for a South doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, at Hohlt Park in Brenham, Texas.