BEEVILLE, Texas – Blinn College softball started out conference play the way it would have like by sweeping a pair of games from Coastal Bend College by the score of 8-1 and 5-0 Saturday afternoon in Beeville.
The pair of victories for the Buccaneers improves their overall record to 17-12 and most-importantly 2-0 in Region XIV play.
Blinn 8 – Coastal Bend 1
Blinn pounded out 20 hits and scored the first seven runs of the game to cruise to an 8-1 victory over Coastal Bend in the opening game.
Only two of Blinn’s 20 hits were extra-base hits as Katie Andrie hit a home run on her way to a four-hit game and Courtney White hit a double and three singles in the game. Katy Sawyer knocked three singles in the win. Faith Genoway pitched all seven innings and allowed only one run on five hits with two strikeouts.
Blinn got started right from its first at bats as Nicole Garcia led off with a double and came around to score on a single by Andrie to right for a 1-0 lead. The scoring continued in the second inning when Sawyer and Kalli Edwards both singled to get on base and Meghann Wrinkle drove in both with a single to center for a 3-0 advantage.
White started the third with a single and came around to score on a single by Ashley Langston to center for the fourth run. The scoring continued in the fourth inning when Garcia started with a walk and Andrie singled her in for a 5-0 lead. Wrinkle, who reached on an error, came in to score for the sixth run and then White capped the three-run inning with an RBI single to center for a 7-0 advantage.
Coastal Bend added a run in the fifth but Blinn would get that run right back in the seventh when Andrie nailed a solo home run to give Blinn the 8-1 victory.
Blinn 5 – Coastal Bend 0
Sam Junkin took to the circle in the second game and shut out Coastal Bend in seven scoreless innings to get the 5-0 victory to complete the sweep.
Junkin only gave up give five hits in the shutout while striking out two in the victory. Garcia only lacked a home run for the cycle in the second game by hitting a triple, double and a single to lead the way offensively with two RBIs. Andrie had a double, a single and an RBI in the win while White also had a double.
Garcia helped Blinn get off to a great start with a leadoff triple and then was brought in by an Andrie double to center for a 1-0 lead. Tori Gleason started the second inning with a walk and Edwards singled to get on base and Garcia brought them both in with a double to left for a 3-0 lead.
Andrie got the offense going in the third with a single then Cheyenne Trader brought her in with a two-out single through the infield for the four-run advantage. Blinn capped the scoring in the sixth inning as Gleason reached base after getting hit by a pitch and then scored after a single by Garcia to left for a 5-0 advantage that would eventually be the final score.
Blinn will finish the weekend with a double-header at Laredo Community College on Sunday, March 6 starting at 11 a.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
