BLINN SOFTBALL SPLITS A CONFERENCE DOUBLEHEADER WITH GALVESTON

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The 15th-ranked Blinn College softball team snapped a three-game skid by earning a doubleheader split with No. 19 Galveston College on Wednesday at Hohlt Park in Brenham, Texas.

Galveston claimed game one of the Region 14 South twin bill 5-1 before the Buccaneers responded with a decisive 11-4 victory in the finale.

Blinn (18-8, 4-4 South) struggled out of the gate as the Whitecaps took control of the opener.

“You’re looking to respond to a tough stretch, and the first game today wasn’t a good sign,” Blinn head coach Rick Church said. “But in game two, we came out with some urgency and that was really reassuring. I was really happy with the response there in the end.”

Game one featured a pitcher’s duel until Galveston broke through with five runs in the fifth inning.

The Buccaneers got on the board in the sixth when sophomore infielder Annie Beckendorf blasted her eighth home run of the season.

Blinn finished with seven hits, highlighted by a 3-for-4 performance from freshman outfielder Skylar Flanagan, who tripled to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Freshman outfielder Lexis Moss added a double.

In the circle, sophomore Brynn Gallamore (9-3) took the loss despite holding the Whitecaps scoreless in six of her seven innings. She allowed four hits, walked four, and struck out six.

The Buccaneers quickly put the disappointment behind them in game two.

Sophomore catcher/infielder Cadence Wiese delivered an RBI double in the first inning before Moss followed with a run-scoring single to give Blinn a 2-0 lead.

After Galveston cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second, the Bucs answered with a big frame. An error plated two runs, Wiese added a sacrifice fly, and Moss made it 6-1 with an RBI groundout.

Blinn kept the pressure on in the third. Flanagan singled home a run, and sophomore outfielder Halle Scheel extended the lead to 9-1 with an RBI double.

Galveston avoided the run rule with three runs in the fifth inning.

“We had a chance to end it early, but Galveston scored some runs and we were sort of on our heels there,” Church said. “I was really impressed with our answer, though. The way we came back and kept the pressure on was good to see.”

Leading 9-4, the Buccaneers added some more insurance in the bottom half of the fifth. Scheel singled to score Flanagan, and freshman infielder Brianna Moreno followed with an RBI double to make it 11-4.

Sophomore starting pitcher Madisyn Bracknell retired all three batters she faced in both the sixth and seventh innings to close out the victory.

Blinn totaled 13 hits in the finale, including three apiece from Flanagan and Scheel. Freshman catcher Kourtney Carter added two hits.

Scheel and Moreno drove in three runs each, while Wiese and Moss recorded two RBIs apiece.

Bracknell (6-2) earned her fifth complete game of the season after allowing three earned runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Blinn will take a brief break from Region 14 South play to host NJCAA Division II power Louisiana State University-Eunice for a four-game series at Hohlt Park. The teams will open with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday before meeting again for a twin bill at 1 p.m. Saturday.

KWHI will broadcast the Saturday games live beginning with the pregame at 12:35pm on 1280AM, 101.7FM, and KWHI.com.