Blinn’s offense ignites in doubleheader sweep of Midland, 7-1 and 13-8

MIDLAND, Texas - The Buccaneers continued to use an explosive offense to accumulate double-digit hits in their fourth and fifth straight games as they defeated Midland College by the scores of 7-1 and 13-8 on Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader at Midland.

With the pair of wins, Blinn's record moves to 10-8 overall.

Blinn 7 - Midland 1

A solid outing in the circle by Meghan Morris led Blinn to a 7-1 victory over Midland to open the first game of the doubleheader.

Meghan Morris picked up her fourth win in the circle after tossing all seven innings and allowing one unearned run on five hits, while striking out seven.

Blinn produced 11 hits in the victory led by Sydney Gutierrez, Alivia Villarreal, Gabriela Gomez and Calli Birch with two hits each. Villarreal led Blinn with two RBIs, while Gomez and Birch each recorded one RBI in the victory.

The Buccaneers were on the board first after two errors by Midland allowed Amber Langston and Morgan Gray to score for Blinn to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

Midland scored its only run of the game in the fourth inning to cut its deficit in half.

Blinn pulled ahead 4-1 in the fifth inning after Gutierrez and Villarreal led off with back-to-back doubles to spark the offense. Gutierrez scored the first run, while Villarreal scored the second run of the inning after Birch hit a single.

Blinn tacked on three more insurance runs in the seventh inning. Gomez drove in Blinn's final earned run of the game with a single, while Sarah Cedillo and Gomez both scored on an error by Midland for Blinn to lead 7-1.

Blinn 13 - Midland 8

Blinn's offense came out on top in a slugfest in the finale of the doubleheader against Midland as the Buccaneers recorded a 13-8 win.

Emily Noah drove in four runs for the Buccaneers while Tori Alvarez-Lopez went 3-for-4, while driving in two runs and scoring three. The top of the batting order recorded most of Blinn's runs as Alvarez-Lopez, Langston and Gutierrez each scored three runs and Villarreal scored two runs in the victory. Blinn outhit Midland 17 to 15 in the victory.

Morris sealed her second win of the game after coming in for 1.1 innings of relief and only surrendering two hits.

The Buccaneers held an early 4-0 lead by the third inning as Alvarez-Lopez scored in the first inning on a one-run double off the bat of Gutierrez and three more runs scored in the third inning. Gutierrez drove in the first run in the third inning with a single to score Cedillo, while a wild pitch allowed Langston to score and Gutierrez scored on an error in the same play.

Midland scored its first run in the third inning and added one in the fourth inning to close in on Blinn 4-2.

Georgina Gonzales ignited Blinn's offense in the fifth inning with a one-run double for the Buccaneers to lead 5-2.

However, Midland answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to even the score 5-5.

Blinn pulled back ahead with three runs in the sixth inning after Langston drove in a run and Noah drove in two runs for Blinn to take a 8-5 lead.

Midland fought back to even the score 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Buccaneers scored five runs in the seventh inning to seal the victory as Alvarez-Lopez hit a two-run homer and Noah hit a two-run double. Villarreal scored the final run of the game on a wild pitch for Blinn to claim a 13-8 win.

Blinn will be back in action on Friday, March 2 at the Region XIV Red Robin tournament in Longview. The Buccaneers will take on Angelina College at 2 p.m. and Kilgore College at 6 p.m.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 36 NJCAA national championships since 1987.