LUFKIN, Texas – There hasn’t been an easy game for Blinn College softball at the Region XIV tournament and Monday’s game against Navarro College wasn’t any different but Blinn found a way to come out on top for a 2-1 victory in Lufkin.
“It seems to be tradition that whenever Blinn plays Navarro that no lead is safe,” said Blinn head coach Rick Church. “It is never over until the last out is recorded and Jaiden Rawls came in and was ready to pitch and got the final two outs for us.”
The victory is significant because it not only allows Blinn a spot in the Region XIV championship game but also a guaranteed trip to the NJCAA national tournament in St. George, Utah. The win improves the Blinn record to 42-13 on the season.
“That was our goal to get back to nationals,” Church said. “Now that we have accomplished that we still have one more piece of business to take care of and that is winning the conference championship.”
The Buccaneers didn’t get a lot of offense so pitching was a difference maker for Blinn. Mariah Gibson got the start and nearly finished all seven innings but ran into a little trouble in the seventh. Rawls came on in the seventh to get the final two outs with runners in scoring position to pick up the save.
Blinn could only muster four hits on offense and the only extra-base hit was a double hit by Alli Spivey.
Blinn was able to strike early and that made the difference in the game. Delilah Pacheco started it off by reaching on an error and then Spivey followed with a walk. With two on, Courtney White singled and then another error allowed both Pacheco and Spivey to score for a 2-0 lead.
That would be all the scoring for the Buccaneers as they left six runners on base for the game and Gibson was able to hold Navarro scoreless for six innings. The seventh got a little hairy as Navarro scored one run and had two runners in scoring position and then Blinn went for a pitching change to bring in Rawls two outs away from a victory.
Rawls was able to get a strikeout and a line out to close the door on Navarro and send Blinn to nationals in Utah.
Blinn will play for the championship Tuesday, May 5 against the winner of Navarro and Galveston College at 12:30 p.m. If Blinn losses then it will play again for the championship at 3 p.m. for the if necessary game. The game will be streamed live at www.psnsports.com.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit: www.buccaneersports.com.
