TEMPLE, Texas – Blinn College softball was able to rebound from a tournament opening loss to come out lightning quick with five runs in the first to roll past No. 5 McLennan Community College 8-0 Friday afternoon in the 2017 Temple College Softball Tournament.
Unfortunately, that was the only good result of the day as the Buccaneers lost 7-3 to Temple College and 8-6 to Angelina College to go 1-2 on opening day. With the 1-2 day, Blinn's overall record moves to 9-8.
Temple 7 – Blinn 3
Blinn held a one-run lead heading into the seventh inning but Temple was able to come up with a clutch run in the seventh and add four more in the eighth to pull out a 7-3 come-from-behind victory to open the day.
Shelby Achille knocked in two of the three Blinn runs with a double. Emily Taylor brought in the other run on a sacrifice fly and added a single. Kamryn Boucher got the start in the circle and went seven innings and only allowed one earned run while striking out four in the loss.
Temple struck first in the top of the second with a single run but Blinn came right back in the bottom half. Emily Noah started the inning with a double and Abby Olejniczak came into pinch run. With Olejniczak at third, Taylor hit a fly ball deep enough to score the tying run to make the score 1-1. Temple did counter with a run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead.
Blinn fought back in the fifth when Taylor and Nicole Garcia walked to get on base. Achille brought both in with a double to center to give Blinn a 3-2 lead. That lead would not hold up as Temple scored one in the seventh to force extra innings and then scored four in the eighth to seal the four-run victory.
Blinn 8 – McLennan 0
Blinn didn't dwell on its opening loss as the Buccaneers came out with five runs in the first inning and got a shutout performance from Colleen Bentke in the circle to beat McLennan 8-0 in six innings.
Bentke pitched all six innings for the win and only gave up six hits while striking out three. Bentke had plenty of run support as Amy Alexander brought in two runs with a single while Taylor hit a two-run home run to bring in a pair. Garcia hit a single and a double and brought in a run while Calli Birch hit a pair of singles and knocked in an RBI in the win.
Blinn went right to work in the opening inning when Garcia led off with a single and later scored the first run on an error. Birch followed with an RBI single to center for a 2-0 lead. Achille scored on an error for the third run and then Alexander brought in a pair with a single to center to give Blinn a 5-0 lead.
That was all the run support Bentke would need as the pitcher kept McLennan off the scoreboard. Taylor added a solo home run over the fence in center for a 6-0 lead.
The Buccaneers did take advantage in the sixth inning to end the game early when Morgan Gray started off with a double and then came in to score following a double by Garcia for a 7-0 lead. Achille ended the game with an RBI single to right to score Garcia to clinch the run-rule victory with the score 8-0.
Angelina 8 – Blinn 6
Blinn held a three-run lead in the fifth inning over Angelina but the Roadrunners came back in the later innings to pull off the 8-6 victory to close the day for the Buccaneers.
Birch did a lot of the damage for Blinn with a home run and a single while bringing in four runs. Katy Sawyer also hit a home run and a double to bring in a pair. Kalli Edwards had a pair of singles in the loss.
Blinn was able to strike first in the opening inning when Edwards got on base with a one-out single and then scored after an RBI single by Birch for a 1-0 lead. Angelina came back with a single run in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1.
The Buccaneers regained the lead in the third when Sawyer hit a one-out double and Olejniczak came in to pinch run. Birch brought in her second run of the game with an RBI ground out to score Olejniczak for a 2-1 lead.
Edwards helped to set the table again with a lead-off single in the fifth and then she trotted around the base paths following a two-run home run by Sawyer to left for a 4-1 lead. Angelina charged back with a single run in the bottom of the fifth and six runs in the sixth for an 8-4 lead.
Blinn didn't go down without a fight as Noah singled to begin the seventh and Birch nailed a two-run home run over the fence in center to get within 8-6 but that would be as close as the Buccaneers would get as Angelina held on for the two-run victory.
The Buccaneers will finish off the Temple Tournament with a game on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Northeast Texas Community College at 10 a.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 34 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
About Blinn College
With an enrollment of 19,422 students, Blinn ranks among the nation's leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.
