HOUSTON, Texas — The Blinn College softball team fell to No. 11 San Jacinto College-South, 9-2, for its first loss in NJCAA Region XIV-South Softball Tournament Saturday. 

With the loss, the Buccaneers are now 22-18 overall and will compete against the winner of tonight’s game between Galveston College and Lamar State College-Port Arthur on Sunday, May 16, at noon. 

“We met a team that outcompeted us today,” head coach Rick Church said. “We will have to regroup and come out with some greater intensity tomorrow.” 

Emily Murphy went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead the offense. Shaelyn Sanders also had two hits and scored one run, while Chloe Woodward scored one run for Blinn. 

Renna Toomey surrendered just four earned runs in four innings, while Sanders gave up two runs on three hits in two innings. 

San Jacinto jumped out to a 7-0 lead after scoring one run in each of the first and second innings, two runs in the third inning, and three runs in the fourth inning. 

Mikaela Lopez hit a double in the second to put herself in scoring position, while Murphy and Lopez hit singles in the fourth, but Blinn wasn’t able to score until the fifth inning. After Woodward landed on base due to an error and Sanders singled, Murphy hit a two-run single for Blinn to trail 7-2 in the fifth. 

San Jacinto added its two final runs to the scoreboard in the sixth inning to lead 9-2 for good. 

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987. 

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