The Bluffton University softball team kicked off 2020 with an 8-0 rout of St. Vincent before dropping a 9-5 decision to Saint Mary's of Minnesota on a sunny but chilly Sunday, March 1. The Beavers stand 1-1 heading into day two of THE Spring Games.
A Courtney Jasinski (Englewood/Northmont) double to the wall in center field plated Sydney Bowen (Convoy/Crestview) for the first run of the season in inning one.
The Beavers unloaded with five runs on five hits in the fourth frame. Freshman Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) singled with one out and when the right fielder was unable to come up with her hit, pinch runner Sammi Urban (Troy/Miami East) crossed the dish.
Emily Dyson (Payne/Wayne Trace) came around when St. Vincent made its second miscue of the inning and Taylor Steinke (Findlay) followed with an RBI single that picked up Molly Bollinger (Lima/Shawnee). Freshman Lily Tate (Mount Gilead/Northmor) delivered with a two-run triple that scored Steinke and Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton).
Adams made it 7-0 with her sacrifice fly to center in the fifth and with the bases loaded, Steinke's looper to left drove in Megan Hill (Arcadia) with the game-ending run as the Beavers opened the season with an 8-0 mercy-rule victory.
Norman was outstanding in her first collegiate start, tossing a two-hit shutout in the five-inning complete-game victory. She fanned five and did not issue any free passes.
Hill and McCrate finished with two hits each, while Steinke and Tate drove in two runs apiece.
Bluffton jumped out to a 5-1 lead midway through the third when Brianna Baker (Defiance/Ayersville) and Steinke laced RBI singles. Saint Mary's responded with three tallies in the bootom of the third and five more in the fourth en route to a 9-5 victory in game two of the day.
Caylin Morstadt (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) led the offense with two hits and two runs scored, while Annie McCrate (Westerville/South) drew a pair of walks.
Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) took the loss after allowing five runs, just one earned, in two-thirds of an inning. She walked three and allowed three hits. Starter Katie McCord (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) went three innings, allowing four runs on five hits with three walks. Bollinger tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief, surrendering just one hit with no walks.
Bluffton is back at THE Spring Games on Monday at 2:45 and 5:15 p.m. when the Beavers take on Chatham and Thiel. The Monday games will take place at Hancock Recreational Complex.
