PUNTA GORDA, Fla.– The Bluffton University baseball team faced off against Misericordia University on Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2020. The Beavers swept the Cougars to pick up their first two wins on the season. Bluffton improved to 2-4 following the victories.
The Beavers got on the board first when a Parker Reynolds (Avon) single scored Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) for an early 1-0 lead. Misericordia would score in the bottom of the second to tie it up 1-1.
In the top of the fifth, Cale Sherbourne (Johnstown/Big Walnut) fired up the offense when he knocked a shot over the left field fence to give the Beavers a 2-1 lead. Three more Bluffton hits from Reynolds, Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) and Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) would push the Beaver lead to 5-1. Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) finished off the fifth with another bomb over the left field fence to give Bluffton a 7-1 lead.
The Cougars scored in the fifth and sixth to pull within four (7-3), but it wouldn't be enough as Jaxon Rogan (Marysville) and Towell both crossed the plate in the top of the seventh to secure the 9-3 Beaver victory.
Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) picked up his first win of the season on the mound, giving up just three runs on seven hits. The junior pitched six innings with no walks and two strikeouts. Taking over in the seventh was Sam Krizek (Columbia Station) who allowed no runs on one hit in his inning of relief.
Leading the Beaver offense was Duncan who went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Reynolds also got iy done at the plate, going 3-of-4 with two RBI. Bluffton totaled nine runs on 13 hits in the victory.
After a quick break, the men were back in action for game two. Bluffton scored first in the top of the first when a Strayer single plated Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, MI/Ida) and Ruhl for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Beavers saw Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) scurry home on a Duncan RBI single to push their lead to 3-0. Brandon Wilson (Casstown/Miami East) plated two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single to increase the Bluffton spread to 5-0.
Misericordia would pick up their only score in the top of the sixth when Austin Miles hit a home run. The Beavers added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the sweep, 7-1.
Freshman Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, IN/New Palestine) took the mound to start the second game and tossed all seven innings in his first start as a Beaver. Jaques allowed one run on just two hits and walked one.
Towell took charge, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Latkofsky also went 3-for-4 and crossed the plate twice. Wilson picked up two RBI in the victory.
The men will take a break on Wednesday before looking to continue the winning streak on Thursday, March 5, against Augustana. The single game is set to begin at 3 p.m.
