(Pictured from left: Blinn College’s Keely Castillo, Caitlyn Stevens, and Acie Prince)
The Buccaneers dropped a 2-1 decision in the opener before bouncing back for a 14-6 victory in five innings in the finale.
Coastal Bend earned the victory in game one with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Buccaneers (12-25, 5-7 Region XIV South) out-hit the Cougars 10-5, led by a pair of three-hit performances from Chandler Tablot and Teagan Whitley.
Caitlyn Stevens got Blinn on the board in the second frame with an RBI single, driving in Whitley to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
In the circle, Chloee Mason started for the Bucs and tossed a complete game. She struck out five and walked two. Both runs she allowed were earned.
Blinn bounced back in a big way to end the day, using a two-inning outburst to put the Cougars away.
After the Bucs took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning, Coastal Bend cut into its deficit with a six-run frame. Blinn gave itself all the insurance it would need a half inning later with a seven-run fifth frame.
Keely Castillo had a two-hit day – a double and a triple – and finished with four RBIs for the Bucs. Stevens drove in three runs, and Talbot, Kayla Wallace, Madeline Stephenson, and Acie Prince also drove in runs. Prince hit a solo home run to close out the scoring in the fifth.
Wallace (two doubles) and Stephenson (one double) also had two hits for Blinn.
Kailey Eldridge earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of relief. She allowed two hits and punched out one.
Blinn continues its season this weekend when it takes on region rival San Jacinto College-South in a twin bill beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at Hohlt Park in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
