The Bluffton University baseball team opened its 2011 campaign with an 8-4 victory over Case Reserve at the Chillicothe VA Memorial Field on a cool Saturday, February 26, 2011.

The Beavers used a six-run sixth to punish the Spartans in the opener. Wabash College took advantage of timely hitting and outstanding pitching to shut out Bluffton in the Beavers' second game of the season.

Bluffton went up 1-0 in the top off the first when Tyler Stephenson's (Springfield/Northwestern) RBI single plated Nick Broyles (Toledo/Whitmer) following his two-out triple. Case responded with two runs in the home half thanks to back-to-back walks to open the inning.

A Stephenson sacrifice lineout to center knotted the game in the top of the third when Kyle Niermann (Napoleon) crossed the plate.

The Spartans put two runs on the board in the fifth when Chris Mullins parked a two-run shot over the wall in right field for a 4-2 lead. Bluffton wasted no time formulating a response as the Beavers piled on six tallies in the top of the sixth. Josh Runda's (Lima/Bath) bases loaded walk sent Stephenson across the dish before nine-hole hitter Miles Richardson (Granville/Newark Catholic) cleared the bags with a grand slam. Kyle Trainer (Mechanicsburg) made it 8-4 when he came around thanks to a Case error.

Three Bluffton relievers did the job over the final four frames to give the Beavers an 8-4 victory over the Spartans. Kelly Barnes (Toledo/Christian) picked up the win, tossing five innings of six-hit ball. He fanned five and walked just two first inning batters, while allowing six hits. Adrian Fritch (Edon) worked around a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to close it out for Bluffton.

Richardson went 2-of-4 with four RBI. Stephenson, Tyler Wright (Troy) and Greg Bergstedt (Napoleon/Patrick Henry) all finished with two safeties while Stephenson drove in two runs.

Wabash 6, Bluffton 0

Wabash scored a run on a fielder's choice in the second for a 1-0 lead over the home team on the scoreboard. Three scoreless frames later, the Little Giants made it 3-0 following a two-run John Holm dinger.

The Bluffton offense hit it hard all afternoon, but the Beavers were unable to find any holes as Wabash kept Bluffton off the board and added three runs late in the game for a 6-0 victory.

Andrew Swart threw seven innings of shutout ball to pick up the win for Wabash. Niermann rapped a pair of hits while Matt McKinney (Columbus Grove/Bath) and Trainer both spanked two-baggers. Nick Rodesky (Bowling Green) took the loss despite throwing five innings of three-hit ball. He gave up three runs and struck out four.

Bluffton will next take to the field on Sunday, March 6, when the Beavers face John Jay at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida. The contest is slated for 9 a.m.

2011 Bluffton University Baseball
Bluffton University vs Case-Reserve
02-26-11 at Chillicothe, Ohio (V.A. Memorial Field)

Bluffton University 8 (1-0)Player ab r h rbi
Niermann, Kyle rf 4 1 1 0Trainer, Kyle 2b 3 1 1 0
Broyles, Nick ss 5 1 1 0Stephenson, Tyler 3b 4 1 2 2
McKinney, Matt 1b 4 0 1 0Wright, Tyler dh 5 1 2 0
Bergstedt, Greg lf 4 1 2 0Runda, Josh c 2 1 0 1
Richardson, Miles cf 4 1 2 4Barnes, Kelly p 0 0 0 0
Gibson, Tyler p 0 0 0 0 Ianiro, David p 0 0 0 0
Fritch, Adrian p 0 0 0 0Totals 35 8 12 7
Case-Reserve 4 (3-2)Player ab r h rbi
Abed,Jimmy lf 3 1 1 0Keen,Matt ss 4 2 2 0
Mullins,Chad 3b 5 1 3 2Ossola,Brett 1b 5 0 0 0
Pecoraro,Cory dh 5 0 2 1Marko,Bobby 2b 4 0 2 1
Bills,Steve c 3 0 0 0Stone,Jackson rf 3 0 1 0
Dague,Jordan pr/rf 2 0 0 0Richards,Matt cf 3 0 0 0
Hora,Jamie p 0 0 0 0 Kelly,Ray p 0 0 0 0
Totals 37 4 11 4

Score by Innings R H E-------------------------------------------
Bluffton University. 101 006 000 - 8 12 0
Case-Reserve........ 200 020 000 - 4 11 1
-------------------------------------------

E - Ossola. DP - CASE 1. LOB - Bluffton 8; CASE 13. 2B - McKinney, M.(1); Abed; Mullins; Pecoraro. 3B - Broyles, N.(1). HR - Richardson(1); Mullins(2). HBP - McKinney, M.. SH - Trainer, K.; Runda, J.. SF - Stephenson. SB - Trainer, K.; Richardson; Keen 2; Dague. CS - Wright, T..

Bluffton University ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo goBarnes, Kelly W,1-0 5.0 6 4 4 2 5 0 0 0 0 20 22 7 2
Gibson, Tyler 2.0 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 9 12 3 2Ianiro, David 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 1
Fritch, Adrian 1.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 6 1 0

Case-Reserve ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo goHora,Jamie L,1-1 5.1 9 7 7 3 2 1 0 0 0 21 27 11 2
Kelly,Ray 3.2 3 1 0 1 4 0 0 1 0 14 16 4 2

WP - Hora. HBP - by Kelly (McKinney, M.). PB - Bills.

Strikeouts - Niermann, K. 2; Broyles, N.; Stephenson; Bergstedt 2; Abed; Ossola 2; Pecoraro; Marko; Bills; Stone; Dague. Walks - Niermann, K.; Trainer, K.; Bergstedt; Runda, J.; Abed 2; Keen; Marko; Bills 2; Richards.

2011 Bluffton University BaseballWabash College vs Bluffton University
02-26-11 at Chillicothe, Ohio (V.A. Memorial Field)

Wabash College 6 (1-0)

Player ab r h rbiTrey Fankhauser cf 4 0 0 0
John Pennington ss 5 2 3 0Montana Timmons lf 4 1 1 1
John Holm dh 3 1 1 3Tanner Coggins 1b 2 2 1 0
Chris Deig rf 4 0 2 0PJ Tyson c 3 0 0 1
David Seibel 3b 3 0 0 1Joe Johnson 2b 4 0 0 0
Andrew Swart p 0 0 0 0 Nate Adams p 0 0 0 0
Luke Zinsmaster p 0 0 0 0Totals 32 6 8 6

Bluffton University 0 (1-1)

Player ab r h rbiNiermann, Kyle rf 4 0 2 0
Trainer, Kyle 2b 3 0 1 0Broyles, Nick lf 4 0 0 0
Stephenson, Tyler 3b 4 0 1 0McKinney, Matt dh 3 0 1 0
Steagall, Airic 1b 4 0 1 0Richardson, Miles cf 4 0 1 0
Webb, Tim c 3 0 0 0 Ianiro, David ph 1 0 0 0
Cianci, Anthony ss 3 0 1 0Rodesky, Nick p 0 0 0 0
Kruse, Jordan p 0 0 0 0 Hadaya, Mark p 0 0 0 0
Jaynes, Sean p 0 0 0 0 Roeschley, Ben p 0 0 0 0
Totals 33 0 8 0

Score by Innings R H E-------------------------------------------
Wabash College...... 010 002 021 - 6 8 1
Bluffton University. 000 000 000 - 0 8 2
-------------------------------------------

E - Coggins; Broyles, N.; Rodesky, N.. DP - Wabash 1. LOB - Wabash 8; Bluffton 8. 2B - Timmons(1); Trainer, K.(1); McKinney, M.(2). 3B - Pennington(1). HR - Holm(1). HBP - Seibel. SH - Coggins. SF - Holm. SB - Fankhauser. CS - Timmons; Tyson.

Wabash College ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo goAndrew Swart W,1-0 7.0 7 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 26 27 8 6
Nate Adams 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 2 1Luke Zinsmaster 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0

Bluffton University ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo goRodesky, Nick L,0-1 5.0 3 3 3 4 4 0 1 0 0 17 22 5 5
Kruse, Jordan 2.2 3 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 10 12 2 4Hadaya, Mark 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1
Jaynes, Sean 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 2 0Roeschley, Ben 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

WP - Kruse, J.. HBP - by Hadaya, M. (Seibel). BK - Rodesky, N..

Strikeouts - Timmons 2; Holm; Deig; Seibel; JJohnson; Broyles, N.; Stephenson; Steagall, A. 2; Richardson 2; Webb, T.; Ianiro, D.. Walks - Fankhauser; Timmons; Holm; Coggins 2; Tyson; Trainer, K.; McKinney, M..

Umpires -Start: 3:15 PM Time: 2:50 Attendance: 75
Weather: 40 degreesRodesky, N. faced 2 batters in the 6th.