Blinn College softball ended its trip to Niceville, Fla., with two setbacks Saturday.
The Buccaneers dropped the opener of their twin bill 8-0 to No. 4 Northwest Florida State College (five innings) before coming up short in a 5-4 loss to Northwest Shoals Community College.
In game one, Blinn (3-13) finished with three hits, including a double for freshman .
In the pitcher’s circle, sophomore Bella De Los Santos took the loss for the Bucs following four innings of work.
The Raiders scored two in the first inning, four in the second, and one in the third and fourth frames.
In game two, Blinn fell behind early before making a game of it in the late innings.
After the Patriots took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, the Bucs got one back in the second when freshman Madysen Taylor lined into an RBI fielder’s choice that drove in sophomore Bailey Boetjer.
Northwest Shoals extended its lead to 5-1 in the top of the fifth before Blinn responded with two tallies of its own in the home half of the inning.
Boetjer singled in sophomore Darian DeLeon and freshman Riley Marek followed with an RBI groundout to plate freshman Annie Beckendorf.
In the sixth, DeLeon closed out the scoring on an RBI single that scored Taylor.
DeLeon paced the Bucs’ four-hit attack with two.
De Los Santos was again the pitcher of record for Blinn after she worked four innings. She allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits.
Next up, Blinn begins Region XIV play when it visits Coastal Bend College for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, in Beeville, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 50 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
