The Blinn College softball team split a pair of extra-inning ballgames against Tyler Junior College on Monday at the Blinn Softball Field at Hohlt Park in Brenham, Texas.
The Apaches defeated the Buccaneers 10-6 in eight innings to open the doubleheader before Blinn bounced back for an 8-7, nine-inning victory in the finale.
“It was a disappointing first game after having all of the momentum with a 3-0 lead,” Bucs head coach Rick Church said. “We managed to tie it back up but couldn’t finish it off. It was a nice response on our part with a nine-inning win in game two. We did what it took to earn the split.”
Blinn (28-16-1) opened Monday’s twin bill by grabbing an early three-run edge.
Freshman Bailey Boetjer’s two-run single made it 2-0 in the first before an RBI groundout from sophomore Erynne Castillo made it 3-0 in the third.
Tyler rallied for four runs in the top of the fifth, and even after the Bucs regained the lead with two runs of its own in the home half of the frame, the Apaches kept coming.
Tyler scored twice in the sixth before Blinn tied the game at 6-all with a solo home run off the bat of sophomore Alyssa Boozy.
After both teams went scoreless in the seventh, the Apaches scored four runs in the eighth to earn the win.
The Bucs finished with eight hits, including two singles and a double for sophomore Alayna Calvillo.
In the pitcher’s circle, freshman Bella De Los Santos was charged with the loss following three innings of relief. Sophomore starting pitcher Peyton Welker worked 4 2/3 innings of three-hit ball in which she gave up four runs (one earned) with two strikeouts and a walk while settling for a no-decision.
The Bucs earned the victory in game two thanks to a late-innings rally that again forced extra frames.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore Camdyn Shugart)
Trailing 6-3 in the fifth, Blinn scored two runs before counter Tyler’s one-run sixth frame with two more tallies in the home half of the inning.
The two squads then went scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings before freshman Darian DeLeon made winners out of the Bucs with a walk-off RBI single in the ninth.
DeLeon had a big day with four hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Sophomore Ripley Welker and freshman Haley Hughes had two hits apiece, and Boetjer singled and drove in two runs.
Hughes and sophomore Haley Rust also plated one run apiece. The Bucs finished with 12 hits.
Sophomore pitcher Camdyn Shugart was the difference maker for Blinn as she hurled five sparkling innings of relief to earn the win. After replacing freshman starter Paige Bunting in the top of the fifth, Shugart allowed an unearned run on one hit while walking three and fanning three Apaches.
“Cami came in with some quality relief innings to get the win, and that was just huge for us,” Church added.
Next up for the Bucs is a Region XIV South doubleheader against 15th-ranked Galveston College scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, in Brenham.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
