BRENHAM, Texas — The Blinn College softball team fell to Tyler Junior College in two non-conference games at Hohlt Park Thursday.
The Buccaneers fell to the Apaches by the scores of 9-2 and 12-8.
With the pair of losses, the Buccaneers are now 10-14 overall.
“We had several well-pitched innings, and had a lead in Game 2, but missed an opportunity,” head coach Rick Church said. “We find a way to let our opponents beat us with errors and misjudged flyballs. We have to find a way so that we are the ones at the end of the day that had more grit and maybe our fortunes will change.”
Tyler 9 – Blinn 2
Blinn opened the doubleheader with a 9-2 loss to Tyler.
Emily Murphy led the Buccaneers on offense with two RBIs, while Renna Toomey and Chloe Woodward each scored one run. Italie Speziale-Potter, Mikaela Lopez, Kendall Johnson, and Murphy each had one hit the game.
Tyler took off with a 5-0 lead after scoring three runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning.
Blinn scored its only two runs in the fourth inning. Lopez led off with a single and Toomey landed on base due to a Tyler error, then Murphy knocked in a pair of runs.
Blinn held Tyler in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Apaches were able to score four runs in the seventh inning to take a 9-2 lead for good.
Tyler 12 – Blinn 8
The Apaches rallied back to defeat Blinn, 12-8, in the second game of the doubleheader.
Nevada Dolnik only surrendered one earned run on seven hits in five innings, while Shaelyn Sanders didn’t allow an earned run in 1 2/3 innings.
In addition, Blinn’s offense totaled 13 hits. Keely Castillo drove in two runs, while Woodward and Samanatha Rodriguez each scored two runs.
Tyler started the game with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, the Buccaneers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning when Woodward scored on an error and Natilee Reed hit a one-run single.
Tyler evened the score in the second inning and took a 5-2 lead with three runs in the fourth inning. Blinn answered back with two runs in the fourth inning when Toomey and Castillo each hit one-run singles. Then, the Buccaneers took a 6-5 when Reed scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Woodward and Rodriguez scored on an error in the fifth inning.
The Apaches came back with an explosive six-run inning to take an 11-6 lead for good in the sixth.
Blinn got one run back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Murphy scored on a fielder’s choice.
Tyler tacked on its final run in the seventh inning to lead 12-7. Blinn rallied for its final run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Woodward scored on a fielder’s choice.
Next, the Buccaneers will resume conference play with a doubleheader against No. 13 San Jacinto College-South on Saturday, April 11, starting at 2 p.m. at Hohlt Park.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
