BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College softball closed out the regular season in style as the Buccaneers swept visiting Coastal Bend College 8-0 and 3-1 Monday afternoon at Hohlt Park.
With the sweep, Blinn finishes the regular season with a 35-15 record and ties for first place in the Region XIV South standings with a 19-5 record. San Jacinto College-South will take the top seed by way of a tiebreaker.
"We finished at the top of the Region XIV South standings and now it is time to focus on how we are going to compete at regionals," said Rick Church, Blinn head coach. "We will have to play well for four consecutive days to win the regional tournament."
The Buccaneers will open the Region XIV tournament on Saturday, May 6 against the No. 3 seed in the East division at 10 a.m. in Lufkin.
Blinn 8 – Coastal Bend 0
Blinn was able to get out to a great start with six runs in the second inning and Colleen Bentke kept Coastal Bend at bay to pick up the 8-0 victory in five innings to open the doubleheader.
Bentke pitched all five innings and allowed only one hit while striking out five in the shutout.
Shelby Achille, Alyssa Hitt and Nicole Garcia each had a single and brought in two runs. Gabriela Gomez also brought in a run and had two singles while Calli Birch added a pair of singles in the win.
Blinn got the scoring going in the second inning when Emily Noah started it off with a single and Abby Olejniczak came on to pinch run. Gomez brought in the first run with a single to left-center for a 1-0 lead. Garcia brought in a couple runs with a single up the middle for a 3-0 lead.
Morgan Gray kept the scoring going in the second when she scored on a double steal for the fourth run. Achille capped the scoring in the inning with a two-run single to center for a 6-0 lead.
The Buccaneers looked to end the game early in the fifth inning as Amy Alexander, Gomez and Birch all singled to load the bases. Hitt brought in a pair of runs with a single to left to give Blinn an 8-0 run-rule victory.
Blinn 3 – Coastal Bend 1
Blinn did not get the same run support in the second game of the doubleheader but three runs was more than enough for Kamryn Boucher in the circle to pitch the Buccaneers to a 3-1 victory to pick up the sweep to close the regular season.
Boucher gave up one earned run on four hits in seven innings while striking out two in the win.
Achille had the lone RBI in the win while adding two singles. Gomez hit a double and Kalli Edwards had a pair of singles.
Coastal Bend was able to strike first with a single run in the second inning but it would be the last time scoring a run for the visiting team. With Garcia at third in the third inning, Achille was able to tie the game with a single up the middle to make the score 1-1.
The Buccaneers took advantage of an error in the sixth inning to take the lead as Noah and Gray both scored on the same error to give Blinn a 3-1 advantage that would hold up until the final out.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 36 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.
