April 12, 2017

Game 1 Stats  I  Game 2 Stats

ANDERSON, Ind. - The Bluffton University softball team snapped a 16-game losing streak at the hands of the Ravens in game one before five errors and two passed balls led to seven unearned runs as Anderson University secured the split with an 8-4 victory. Bluffton moved to 16-9 and 2-5 in the Heartland Conference, while Anderson improved to 9-13 with a 2-2 mark in the HCAC.

Jessie Madzia (Massillon/Tuslaw) got Bluffton on the board in the top of the first with a bomb to left field, her fourth homer of the season. Anderson plated unearned runs in the third and fourth innings for a short-lived 2-1 lead heading to the fifth.

A Mackenzie Schmidt (Caledonia/River Valley) double to center to lead off the fifth ignited a two-run rally for the Beavers. She scurried home on a ground ball before Chelsea Zoltowski's (Sylvania/Southview) RBI single to right plated Madzia.

Schmidt was back in the action an inning late when she laced her second two-bagger in as many innings, this time with two outs. Kelsey Reeder (Galion/Northmor) picked her up with a base hit to right field and Brittany Huff (Clayton/Northmont) followed with an RBI single to left field, scoring Reeder who had moved up on a passed ball.

Emily Scupholm (Cuyahoga Falls/Our Lady of the Elms) did the rest, recording six straight outs to secure the 5-2 victory while improving to 9-3 on the season. She allowed two runs, none earned, on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Reeder, Madzia, Huff, Zoltowski and Schmidt all rapped two hits for the victors. Huff drove in two, while Madzia and Schmidt both scored twice.

A Bluffton error following an Emily Scupholm strikeout set the tone when Anderson's leadoff batter reached in the bottom of the first inning in game two. Four unearned runs later and the Beavers were backed into a corner from the start.

Carly Levindofske (Brunswick/Magnificat) followed a Kelsi Wilson (Pataskala/Licking Heights) double with a two-run shot to left center for her first homer of the season in the top of the second. Schmidt followed with a single and stolen base before Reeder made it 4-3 with a run-scoring single to left center.

Trailing 5-3 in the top of the sixth, Wilson launched her second homer of the season to make it a one-run game. However, a leadoff dinger by Megan Wade and three Bluffton errors added up to three more tallies for the home team as Anderson capped off the 8-4 victory for a season split with the Beavers.

Reeder continued her hot stick work with a 3-of-4 effort in the nightcap. Wilson went 2-of-3 with two runs scored, a double and a homer. Levindofske scored twice.

Scupholm took the loss after allowing four unearned runs in the first frame. Madzia worked 5.1 innings of relief, striking out three. She surrendered four runs, just one earned, on four hits.

Bluffton is slated to play Franklin College on Saturday, April 15. The Senior Day festivities honoring Emily Scupholm will precede the 1 p.m. first pitch.

-BEAVERS-