The Blinn College softball team split a Region XIV South doubleheader with Coastal Bend on Saturday at Hohl Park in Brenham.
After dropping the opening ballgame 12-9, the Buccaneers earned a 13-5, five-inning victory over Coastal Bend to finish the day.
In the opener of the twin bill, the Buccaneers lead 5-2 after two innings, but Coastal Bend tallied eight runs in the top of the third. The Cougars added single runs in the fourth and seventh innings. Blinn scored three runs in the sixth and once in the seventh.
Chandler Talbot and Teagan Whitley paced the Bucs' 15-hit attack with four hits apiece. Keely Castill added two hits and three RBI, including a two-run homer in the second. Whitley doubled and drove in two runs, and Kenley Strange had an RBI as part of her two-hit performance. Kayla Wallace also smacked two hits.
Chloee Mason suffered the loss for Blinn after working five innings in the pitcher's circle. She allowed 11 runs, however, only one was earned.
Blinn rallied in game two to earn the split.
The Buccaneers scored four runs in the first for a 4-3 lead, and after Coastal Bend regained a brief edge with two runs in the second, Blinn surged ahead for good with six runs in the home half of the inning.
The Bucs added a single tally in the third and two in the fifth to secure the run-rule victory.
Blinn finished with 17 hits, including three apiece for Talbot, Emily Kristynik and Acie Prince. Kristynik drove in a team-high four runs, including a two-run homer in the second. She also doubled. Prince also doubled and drove in three runs.
Whitley, Strange, and Wallace had two hits, and Talbot, Whitley, Castillo, Strange, and Wallace also notched an RBI. Strange and Madeline Stephenson doubled for the Bucs.
Kaitlyn Sadler earned the victory for Blinn behind a complete-game outing. She allowed three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts. She walked none.
Blinn is now 5-16 overall with a 1-1 South Zone mark. The Buccaneers return to play Friday, March 18, with a doubleheader against South zone rival San Jacinto College-South beginning at 2 p.m. in Houston.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
