The Bluffton University baseball team played like it was sunny and 70 on Sunday, March 28. Bluffton hammered Franklin 15-5 in six and a half innings in game one before the visiting Grizzlies earned a split with a 9-1 victory in the nightcap. The Beavers moved to 3-11 on the season and in the HCAC while Franklin stands at 7-5 on both accounts.
Bluffotn fell behind 2-0 after half an inning, but the Beavers responded by sending 13 batters to plate in an eight-run barrage as the first frame took no less than 50 minutes to complete! Bluffton took advantage of six hits and a pair of Franklin errors en route to the 8-2 lead after one. Jacob Latkofsky (Temperence, Mich./Ida) capped the first inning scoring with a two-run single.
The Beavers struck for three runs in the home fourth thanks to back-to-back triples by Nick Diana (Batavia/West Clermont) and Ruhl. Cale Sherbourne (Milford/Milford) and Diana added RBI's in the fifth before Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/West Clermont) crossed the dish in the sixth following an errant pickoff attempt by the Grizzlies. Franklin put up one score in the seventh, but the Beavers took game one in mercy fashion, 15-5, when they stranded two runners.
Ruhl went 4-of-4 with two triples, two RBI and two runs scored. Diana drove in four runs and scored twice while going 2-of-4 at the dish. Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) and Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) both scored three times. Ruhl and Latkofsky drove in two runs apiece.
Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) got untracked after a tough first frame and he earned the victory with a five-inning effort. Siemer allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and five walks. Junior Sam Meek (Hope, Ind./Hauser) worked the final out to get Bluffton off the field in the seventh.
Game two moved at a much quicker pace, which isn't saying much since game one took 3:15 to play six and a half innings. Franklin held a narrow 1-0 lead after five innings before a pair of Grizzly runs in the sixth made it 3-0. The visitors opened a 7-0 spread with four more tallies an inning later thanks to a two-run shot by Ryan Bixler and a two-run double by Quenton Wellington.
Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) singled home Latkofsky in the seventh, but Franklin responded with scores in the eighth and ninth before daylight came to a halt midway though the final frame as Franklin cashed in with a 9-1 victory in game two.
Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) took the loss despite a quality outing that saw the sophomore allow just three runs on six hits in six innings of work. He fanned six and walked just two. Latkofsky chipped in with two safeties on Sunday night. The seven-hour day saw temperatures drop into the mid 30's with rain and sleet intermittent items on the menu.
Bluffton will be back in action on Wednesday, March 31, when the Beavers travel to Earlham for a 4 p.m. meeting with the Quakers.
Women's golf team
The Bluffton University women's golf team battled cold temperatures and wind at the Miami Whitewater Classic on Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28, 2021. The Beavers finished 10th with a 797, placing higher then Heartland Conference rivals Earlham and Defiance at the HCAC Preview.
Brylee Oberdorf (Green Springs/Clyde) led the way with a 190 thanks to consecutive scores of 95 and 95 on Saturday and Sunday. Sophomore Haley Gill (Indianapolis, IN/Franklin Central) was also under 200 with scores of 99 and 95. Marissa Hall (Avon), Grace Branson (Carlisle) and Keely Briggs (Franklin) rounded out the Bluffton scorecards with 203, 211 and 221, respectively.
Bluffton will be off for Easter before returning to the links at the Manchester Dual on Saturday, April 10. Day one is at Honeywell Golf Course in Wabash, Ind., with day two at the Hillcrest Colf Club in Findlay.
