April 18, 2015
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The The Bluffton University Beavers rebounded from a Friday loss in the first game of the series to sweep a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18, over the HCAC-leading Anderson University Ravens. The Beavers won the early game, 6-4, and topped it off with a 5-4 victory. The wins over Anderson, as well as Rose-Hulman’s sweep of Earlham, set up a virtual tie atop the HCAC with all four teams at seven losses apiece. Anderson and Bluffton (19-12 overall) both sit at 12-7 in HCAC play.
After Anderson scored two on a home run in the opening inning off of senior hurler Brad Schlabach (Fredericksburg/Hiland), he would settle down to retire 15 straight Raven hitters .This allowed for the Beaver fourth inning rally to get the home team a 5-2 lead. With the bases loaded and nobody out, T.J. Devore (Grove City) jacked a three-run double, putting Bluffton on top. An RBI single by Tyler Spalding (Willis, Mich./Lincoln) made it 4-2 before an Anderson error pushed Bluffton to a three-run advantage.
The Beavers would add a run in the eighth inning off an RBI single from Jeff Roth (Bellevue) to go up 6-2. Anderson loaded the bases with two down, forcing Coach Grandey to go to the bullpen for the first time after 8.2 innings, but Austin Prosser (Galion) would come on for the final out and his fourth save of the season with a 6-4 game one victory.
Schlabach improved to 5-0 on the season after going 8.2 innings and giving up four runs on 13 hits for the Beavers, while Prosser earned his fourth save. Brian Page (2-1) started for the Ravens and gave up all five runs, four of them earned, to suffer his first loss of 2015.
The Beavers scattered 10 hits across the diamond, led by a 2-for-4 game from Devore, including three RBI and a run. Mike Castro (Reynoldsburg) also finished the day with two hits, while Spalding would score two runs on a hit and walk.
Bluffton swept the doubleheader thanks to some help from the Ravens, as they committed four second-inning errors that led to three runs, setting up a sweep. All three of Bluffton’s runs scored in the inning were unearned, and only Clayton Siders (Delaware/Worthington Christian) was credited with an RBI, his being on a fielder's choice. Anderson came back to score four in the third inning to regain the lead. They would keep that all the way through the sixth inning, before a two-run single by Spalding made it 5-4 which ended up as the final score.
Jaylen Von Sossan (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) earned a victory to improve to 2-2 on the season, throwing seven innings and giving up four runs on eight hits, while Kevin Every (Zanesville/West Muskingum) picked up a two-inning save, allowing no runs on two hits.
Bluffton garnered just five hits in the victory, including two from Devore, as well as Spalding’s well-timed two-run single that proved to be the winning run for the Beavers.
The Beavers return to action on Sunday, April 19, as they make the short trip to Ada for a matchup with the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Following a trip to Earlham on Tuesday, Bluffton will return to Memorial Field for the final home series of the season with the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, beginning on Saturday, April 25. First pitch for the DH is set for 12 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
