BLINN SOFTBALL SWEEPS #20 NAVARRO
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The Blinn College softball team continued its early-season surge with a doubleheader sweep of No. 20 Navarro College on Friday in Corsicana.
The Buccaneers earned a 16-5 run-rule victory (five innings) in the opener before blanking the Bulldogs 7-0 in the finale.
The two wins pushed Blinn to 5-1 on the year, with three victories against teams in the NJCAA Division I preseason rankings. The Bucs have won four in a row and are off to their best start since opening the 2023 campaign 6-0.
Blinn started the day by scoring 10 or more runs for the first time this season. The 23 total runs almost match their season run total entering the day (27).
"It was definitely a good offensive day for us today," Blinn head coach Rick Church said. "We even got the long ball going with three home runs, so that was good to see."
The Bucs pounced on Navarro early in game one, scoring three runs in the first inning before exploding for seven more in the third and six in the fourth.
Freshman left fielder Skylar Flanagan scored on a passed ball to open the scoring in the first frame before freshman catcher Lexis Moss smacked a two-run homer to make it 3-0.
During the Bucs' big third inning, the game entered blowout territory when sophomore third baseman Annie Beckendorf lifted a three-run homer to left field to make it 7-0.
Sophomore first baseman Daniela Lopez added an RBI single, freshman right fielder Presli Moebes added a run-scoring triple, and Flanagan tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 10-0.
The Bulldogs tried to claw back with a five spot during their half of the third, but Blinn kept tacking on in the fourth.
Lopez cracked a grand slam to center field to give her team a 14-5 advantage. A Flanagan RBI double and an RBI single from sophomore center fielder Halle Scheel closed out the scoring.
The Bucs racked up 12 hits, led by a three-hit ballgame for Moss. Lopez and Moebes added two hits apiece, while Lopez finished with a game-high five RBIs.
Sophomore starting pitcher Kacie Dudensing worked around a tough third inning to produce a complete-game effort. She allowed five earned runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts. She improved to 2-0.
In game two, Blinn posted two runs in the third, fourth, and fifth frames, and added one more in the sixth to back sophomore pitcher Brynn Gallamore's complete-game shutout.
Wiese's sacrifice fly in the second drove in Flanagan to get the Bucs on the board, and Moss reached on an error that plated Scheel to make it 2-0.
Freshman second baseman Londyn Holland scored on a wild pitch and Scheel hit an RBI single for a 4-0 cushion in the fourth.
In the fifth, Beckendorf's sacrifice fly and a passed ball that pushed freshman pinch runner Lexi Fief across the plate made it 6-0.
Scheel's RBI groundout capped the scoring.
Seven Bucs had at least one hit, led by a two-hit showing for freshman shortstop Brianna Moreno.
The seven runs were more than enough for Gallamore, who earned the third complete game and second shutout of her Blinn career. She allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out three to improve to 2-0. She also lowered her season earned run average to a nifty 1.58.
Blinn gets right back to work with a road doubleheader against Kilgore College at 1 p.m.