LONGVIEW, Texas – Blinn College softball was looking to bounce back after a pair of losses the day before and the Buccaneers did just that with a 3-2 victory over Bossier Parish Community College and a 7-6 victory win over Trinity Valley Community College in the Region XIV Round Robin Saturday in Longview.
The pair of one-run victories helps Blinn improve its record to 14-11 overall. The Buccaneers improved to 2-2 in the Region XIV Round Robin tournament with two more games tomorrow.
“We really cut down on the errors today and Faith Genoway pitched real well in both games,” said Blinn coach Rick Church.
Blinn 3 – Bossier Parish 2
Blinn was able to jump out to an early 3-0 lead in the first three innings and was able to hold off Bossier Parish to earn the 3-2 victory.
Katie Andrie was the main source of offense with two home runs while knocking in all three runs for the Buccaneers. Courtney White had a single and a double while Jordin Wilkins also nailed a double and drew two walks in the victory.
Genoway was solid in the circle for Blinn by pitching all seven innings and allowing only one earned run on seven hits and striking out two in the win.
Blinn jumped on Bossier Parish early as Nicole Garcia started it in the first with a single and trotted around the diamond after a home run by Andrie to center for a 2-0 lead. Andrie added another home run in the third, also to center field, to increase the lead to 3-0.
That would be all the offense needed as Bossier Parish added a single run in the fourth and sixth but Genoway closed out the victory in the circle.
Blinn 7 – Trinity Valley 6
In a back and forth game, Blinn was able to get the last word as White delivered a double in the seventh inning for the walk-off 7-6 victory over Trinity Valley.
White played the hero in the seventh and added a single earlier in the game to lead the way. Katy Sawyer added a home run and a single and brought in two runs in the win. Garcia also smacked a home run and a pair of singles and scored twice over Trinity Valley.
Genoway picked up her second victory of the day by coming on in relief to pitch 5 2-3 innings and allowed only one earned run on six hits while striking out five.
Trinity Valley struck first in the second inning with three runs to take the early lead. Garcia helped to chip away at the lead with a solo home run in the third to get within 3-1 for Blinn.
The Buccaneers used the long ball again in the fourth when White singled to get on and then Sawyer sent a ball over the wall in left to knot the game up at 3-3. Trinity Valley added a run in the fifth to retake the lead at 4-3.
Trinity Valley didn’t have the lead for long as Garcia led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and later scored on a single by Wilkins to left to tie the game at 4-4. Trinity Valley added two runs in the sixth for a 6-4 advantage.
Again Blinn answered when Sawyer singled to get on and then Alyssa Hitt was called upon to run for Sawyer. Hitt got the Buccaneers within one after scoring on an error. Kalli Edwards tied the game after scoring on a ground out hit by Garcia to level the score at 6-6.
Blinn had the final say at the plate when Wilkins reached on an error and then scored on the walk-off double by White to left to give Blinn the 7-6 victory.
Blinn will play two more games in the Region XIV Round Robin on Sunday, Feb. 28 starting with a game against Navarro College at 1 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
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