HOUSTON, Texas – Blinn College softball finished off the opening game against San Jacinto College-South the right way by scoring four runs in each the fourth and fifth innings to pull out the 10-0 victory in five innings March 27 in Houston.
The second game was quite different as San Jacinto scored the first five runs and held on for a 6-4 victory to end a nine-game conference winning streak for Blinn.
With the loss in the second game, the Buccaneers conference record drops to 9-1 and 27-9 overall.
The first game was a lot of offense for Blinn and great pitching. Delilah Pacheco and Alli Spivey usually get on base for the Buccaneers but in the first game they brought in the majority of the runs with three RBIs each for the players hitting in the first two spots in the lineup. Seeley Orsak also picked up two singles.
Courtney White and Jordin Wilkins each had an RBI in the win while Mariah Gibson had an RBI and pitched all five innings and allowed only three hits in the win.
Offense got going in the first inning when Pacheco hit one of her four base hits to lead-off and then was brought in by a double to center by Gibson for a 1-0 lead. The scoring continued in the third when Pacheco doubled to begin the inning and was brought in by White with a double for a 2-0 lead after three innings.
The fourth inning is where Blinn really broke the game open and it started when Avery Mullendore reached on an error and Orsak singled. Pacheco brought in the third run with a single and then Spivey followed with an RBI single of her own for a 4-0 lead. Pacheco later came around to score for the fifth run and then Wilkins capped the scoring with a double to center for a 6-0 advantage.
Blinn took the opportunity to end the game early in the fifth as Pacheco brought in a pair of runs with a double to left for an 8-0 lead. Spivey followed with a two-run double of her own to give Blinn a 10-0 lead that would hold after the bottom of the fifth for the run-rule victory in the opening game.
Blinn fell behind 5-0 in the second game and came close enough to put a scare into San Jacinto but came up just short in the 6-4 loss. Gibson knocked in a pair of runs in the second game while Pacheco and White each had an RBI. Spivey hit three singles and Jaiden Rawls knocked two singles as Blinn outhit San Jacinto 12 to 11 in the loss.
San Jacinto built up a 5-0 lead after the fourth inning with a pair of runs in the second and third innings and a single run in the fourth but Blinn was able to fight back.
White was able to get Blinn on the board in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly to score Kayla Lahrmann. Gibson brought in a pair of runs with a single to center to get Blinn within 5-3 of San Jacinto. Pacheco was able to get Blinn within a run in the sixth inning with a single to center to score Mullendore for a 5-4 score. Unfortunately for Blinn, that would be the final run scored as San Jacinto scored an extra run to make the final 6-4.
Blinn will travel to face Louisiana State University-Eunice March 28 for a double-header that begins at 1 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 30 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit: www.buccaneersports.com.
