BEAUMONT, Texas – Blinn College softball closed out the Region XIV Crossover Tournament strong by beating Kilgore College 7-1 and Trinity Valley Community College 5-4 Sunday afternoon at the Beaumont Athletic Complex.
The victory over Trinity Valley gave Blinn head coach Rick Church his 800th career coaching victory. The Buccaneers improved to 14-10 overall with the pair of victories.
"Winning 800 games is a collection of 20 different teams and I am proud of all who have worn a Blinn uniform," Chuch said. "I am thankful to my eight different assistant coaches, including coach Jami Ingram who has been with me for more than 450 wins."
Blinn 7 – Kilgore 1
Blinn did not have any trouble jumping out ahead of Kilgore as the Buccaneers scored the first seven runs en route to a 7-1 victory to open the day.
Alivia Villareal, who had six RBIs yesterday against Northeast Texas Community College, followed that performance with three more RBIs against Kilgore while adding a single. Alyssa Hitt nailed a home run and brought in two runs while Emily Noah had three singles and brought in a pair in the win.
Colleen Bentke picked up her seventh win of the season by pitching all seven innings without giving up an earned run and striking out five.
Blinn got going in the first inning when Nicole Garcia started it off with a walk and then came in to score on an RBI single by Noah to left for the first run of the game. Villareal made the score 2-0 with an RBI ground out.
Noah brought in her second run of the game in the third inning with an RBI ground out to score Kalli Edwards for a 3-0 lead after three. Blinn used the long ball in the fourth to extend its lead as Hitt nailed a two-run home run over the fence in center to score Emily Taylor for a 5-0 lead.
The Buccaneers loaded the bases in the sixth looking to add additional runs and Villareal came through with a single to center to bring in a pair of runs for a 7-0 lead. Kilgore scored an unearned run in the sixth but it would be the last time it would score as Blinn held on for the six-run victory.
Blinn 5 – Trinity Valley 4
Blinn dug itself a four-run hole early on against Trinity Valley but the Buccaneers got a clutch hit from Alexander to tie the game in the seventh and then Taylor followed with a walk-off single to center to give the Buccaneers a 5-4 come-from-behind victory to sweep the pair of games.
The Buccaneers beat Trinity Valley without a single extra-base hit, as all nine hits were singles. Shelby Achille, Katy Sawyer and Noah all brought in a run in the win. Bentke backed her earlier performance with another seven-inning victory in the circle by allowing just two earned runs and striking out three.
"Colleen Bentke pitched really well in back to back games today," Church said. "We had a lot of contributions from different players today."
Trinity Valley had control of the game early in jumping out to a 4-0 lead with single runs in the second and fifth innings and two runs in the fourth. Blinn did start to get some offense going in the fifth as Achille drove in the first run with a line drive single to center to get within 4-1. Sawyer followed by lining a single to right to drive in the second run and then Noah capped the scoring with an RBI single to center to get within 4-3.
With a little momentum on its side, Blinn tried to go after the lead in the seventh inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, Alexander hit an infield single to score Edwards to tie the game at 4-4. With the chance to win the game, Taylor fouled off five pitches in her at-bat before smacking the game-winning single to right to give the Buccaneers a 5-4 victory in dramatic fashion.
Blinn will open Region XIV play with a doubleheader at home on Friday, March 3 against Laredo Community College starting at 3 p.m. at Hohlt Park.
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.
