Game 1 stats: http://www.bluffton.edu/sports/softball/2012/04-07-s1.htm
I Game 2 stats: http://www.bluffton.edu/sports/softball/2012/04-07-s2.htm
The Bluffton University softball team used a three-run inning in each game to complete its sweep over Hanover College on Saturday, April 7, 2012. The Beavers improved to 16-12 on the season and 4-2 in the heartland Conference, while Hanover dipped to 7-21 overall and 0-8 in the HCAC.
Emily Manahan (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) put the Beavers up 1-0 with her first homer of the season, a leadoff shot down the left field line to open the second inning.
The Panthers took advantage of a Blakli Nading triple in the top of the fourth inning when Megan Priest singled through the left side two outs later. The home team responded quickly with three tallies in the bottom half of the frame. Following a one out walk to Manahan, Lindsay Robertson (Cincinnati/Northwest) picked up pinch runner Chelsea Weitz (Dayton/Carroll) with her two-bagger to the wall in left center. Freshman Brittany Baker (Springboro) made it 4-1 with a two-run bomb to left center.
Chloe Shell (Covington) kept Hanover off the scoreboard over the final three innings despite three straight Panther singles in the top of the fifth as she improved to 8-4 on the season. Shell fanned four and did not walk a batter as Hanover managed just one run on nine hits.
Baker drove in two runs with her first career dinger in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Beavers finished game one with just four hits.
A pair of singles and a wild pitch allowed Hanover to plate a run in the top of the first in game two. Bluffton used three Panther errors and hits by Jessica Kuzara (Flat Rock, Mich./Huron) and Chelsie Osborne (Chillicothe/Waverly) to go ahead 3-1 after two innings of play.
The visitors came right back with a Lauren Kreinest two-run blast to center following a Bluffton error, tying the game at three midway through the third.
Osborne, who went 2-of-3 with two RBI, parked a Hanover offering over the fence in the fourth before Shelby Erford (Paulding) doubled and scored in the fifth for the final 5-3 margin in the series finale. Erford scored twice for the Beavers.
Freshman hurler Megan Patton (Waynesfield/Perry) improved to 5-5 on the year. She allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits with six strikeouts and just one walk in seven innings of work.
Bluffton returns to action on Tuesday, April 10, when the Beavers travel to rival Defiance College. The first game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
