March 25, 2015
By: Ryan Ebbeskotte, sports information assistant
TIFFIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team came up short in both games during its doubleheader at Heidelberg University on Wednesday, March 25. The Beavers fell in game one, 11-10, in eight innings and darkness halted a Beaver comeback in the second game as it was called after the fifth inning with Heidelberg leading 3-2.
The lack of daylight cost the Beavers a chance at a win for the second straight week as Bluffton had knotted the game in the top of the sixth, but that run was wiped off the board when darkness won out with Heidelberg at the dish. Bluffton fell to 9-10 on the season, while Heidelberg improved to12-4.
The Beavers jumped on the board in the first inning with a sacrifice fly by BRITTANY BAKER (Springboro) which scored ARIANA MUFFO (New Athens, Ill) who doubled in her first at bat. A big first inning by the Student Princes gave them a 4-1 lead thanks to three free passes and four Heidelberg safeties, However, the Beavers cut into the lead in the second, 4-3, with Baker and JESS KUZARA (Flat Rock, Mich./Huron) RBI's.
A CARLY LEVINDOFSKE (Brunswick/Magnificat) single scored Kuzara in the fourth to tie up the ballgame before three more tallies in the fifth on a home run by Muffo put the Beavers up, 7-4.
Back-to-back two-run innings gave Heidelberg an 8-7 lead going into the seventh inning. An RBI by Baker tied it in the seventh before JOSIE MCELROY (Mt. Orab/Western Brown) put the Beavers back on top with a two-run bomb in the eighth. Heidelberg scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a two-RBI walk-off single with two outs.
Ariana Muffo spearheaded the Bluffton offense with a 3-of-5 effort in game one. She scored three times and drove in three runs with her fifth-inning bomb to left field. Levindofske was 3-of-5, while Baker scored three runs. Baker, Kuzara, McElroy and Brittany Huff (Clayton/Northmont) all finished with two hits.
Heidelberg opened game two with solo runs in the first two innings to grab a 2-0 lead. Bluffton answered in the fifth with Huff scoring on an ASHLEY KNIPPEN (Wapakoneta) single. Knippen crossed the dish later in the inning on a Baker sacrifice fly.
Heidelberg scored in the bottom of the inning and the game was called early due to darkness with Bluffton on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.
Jessie Madzia (Massillon/Tuslaw) gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits in the darkness-shortened contest. She struck out two and allowed just one walk. Muffo continued her torrid afternoon with two more hits for a 5-of-8 day at the plate.
Bluffton hosts Transylvania University on Saturday, March 28, for a Heartland Conference doubleheader. The first contest is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
