BRENHAM, Texas Maria Garcia recorded two RBIs in No. 18 Blinn College softball's 5-3 win over Baton Rouge Community College to open Tuesday's doubleheader at Hohlt Park.
The Buccaneers fell behind in the second game, but rallied back with a six-run inning, led by Mackenzi Crews with three-run double, for an 8-5 final.
With the pair of wins, Blinn improves to 37-12 overall and picks up its 18th straight win.
"We haven't played in over a week, but the team found a way to win even if it wasn't always pretty," said Rick Church, Blinn head coach. "For the most part we are executing when we need to and have been hitting the pitching in order to pull off these wins."
Blinn 5 – Baton Rouge 3
Garcia led Blinn's offense for the Buccaneers to grab a 5-3 victory over Baton Rouge to start the day.
Garcia went 3-for-3 to knock in two runs, while Mayela Fernandez drove in one run for the Buccaneers. Amber Langston led Blinn with two runs, while Sarah Cedillo, Kimber Cortemelia and Crews each scored one.
"We had a lot of confidence today and it feels nice to get these wins," Garcia said. "We know when we need to get hits to get our players to score. We have really good team chemistry this year and are like a family so that has helped us continue our win streak."
Meghan Morris earned the win after throwing 4 2/3 innings and surrendering three runs, while Alysa Torres was credited with the save after allowing just one hit and striking out four in the final 2 1/3 innings.
Blinn opened the game with an early 2-0 lead in the first inning that it held onto for good. Garcia drove in the first run with a single that allowed Langston to score after leading the offense off with a walk. Cortemelia scored the next run for Blinn on an error.
Baton Rouge scored its first run in the third inning, but the Buccaneers answered back in the bottom half with one run of their own when Garcia doubled to plate Cedillo.
In the fourth inning, Blinn tacked on one run when Crews scored on a groundout to extend its lead to 4-1.
Baton Rouge scored its final two runs in the fifth inning to gain on Blinn 4-3. The Buccaneers also added their final run to the scoreboard in the fifth inning when Langston stole home plate.
Blinn 8 – Baton Rouge 5
The Buccaneers fought back with six late runs in order to capture an 8-5 victory over Baton Rouge for the sweep.
Crews led the Buccaneers with four RBIs, while Langston followed with two. Cedillo and Cortemelia each tallied two runs in the win.
Torres recorded the win after pitching 4 2/3 innings and surrendering two runs on four hits, while striking out three.
After falling behind 1-0 in the second inning, Blinn evened the score in the bottom half when Crews singled for Cortemelia to score.
Baton Rouge took back the lead in the next inning by scoring two runs. However, Blinn answered back with one run in the bottom of the inning after Cedillo scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Langston.
Baton Rouge extended its lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning, but the Buccaneers managed to rally back with six runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for the first time. After Blinn loaded the bases, Garcia drew a walk for Cedillo to score and to keep the bases loaded. Crews followed with a three-run double to unload the bases for Blinn to lead 7-4. Cedillo knocked in Blinn's final run with a single that allowed Crews to score.
Baton Rouge managed to rally for one run in the seventh inning, but it wasn't enough for the win.
Next, the Buccaneers will return to conference play when they host Alvin Community College on Wednesday, April 24, in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. at Hohlt Park.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
