The Bluffton University baseball team defeated Rose-Hulman on Saturday, sending Bluffton into the five-team double elimination Heartland Conference Tournament at Lexington, Ky., starting Thursday, May 20.
RHIT had won 20 straight games over the Beavers heading into game one of the tournament last Friday, but Bluffton put an end to that with an 11-inning victory in the series opener.
The Beavers added a string of exclamation points on Saturday when a 9-7 Beaver victory completed the sweep.
Bluffton's seniors know a thing or two about the conference tournament, having been on the first team that qualified for the HCAC tourney back in 2018 when they were freshmen. Close losses to Manchester and Anderson have the 2021 squad hungry to cement its legacy this weekend.
A 10:30 a.m. start with Anderson kicks off week two of the tournament. Bluffton went 2-3 against the Ravens this season with two victories over Anderson late in April.
Junior Eddie Budinski (Louisville) was the story on April 22 when he tossed five innings of no-hit ball with 10 strikeouts as the Beavers pitched a 5-0 shutout against a Raven team that blasted its way to 29 runs in a sweep back in March.
Freshman Kenny Schneider (Sunbury/Big Walnut) was 5-of-10 with a .900 slugging percentage in three games against Anderson. Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) led the offense with five RBI in the five games with the Ravens.
Tournament host and top-seeded Transylvania will be on the menu Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for the Bluffton-Anderson winner.
The Pioneers are 28-10 on the season and they went 3-1 against Bluffton this season. Early March weather moved the first series with the Pioneers to Lexington, so all four games were staged in Kentucky this spring.
Freshman Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) was 7-of-13 against the Pioneers, but Bluffton struggled as a team, hitting just .252 with a paltry .303 slugging percentage.
It took a Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) walkoff two-run shot in the bottom of the 11th inning and more than a month on the calendar for Bluffton to secure its victory over the Pioneers as daylight came up a little short in the March 6 series.
Number two seed Franklin College will be the home team in the 2 p.m. game on Thursday when the Grizzlies take on Earlham College.
Bluffton went 2-2 against Franklin in 2021 with a pair of splits on its resume. The Beavers fell behind 2-0 after half an inning on March 28, but the home team responded by sending 13 batters to plate in an eight-run barrage as the first frame took no less than 50 minutes to complete.
It took 3:15 to play six and a half innings, but the end result was worth it as Bluffton took game one of the series 15-5 in mercy-rule fashion.
Earlham snuck into the #3 slot for the five-team tournament when Rose bowed out last Saturday. The Quakers were 3-2 in five games against Bluffton this year. A split in Richmond, Ind., gave the Beavers their first victory of the season following four losses to open 2021.
The two teams split a pair of one-run games on April 17 when Bluffton was the host site for baseball, softball, football and men's golf. Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) gave the Quakers fits this season, striking out 17 in 13 innings while limiting Earlham to a .224 batting average with just one free pass. Schneider and Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) both smacked six hits against the Quakers.
Graduate student Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) and junior Brandon Wilson (Casstown/Miami East) are on a tear heading to Transy for the tournament.
Duncan is 13-of-32 (.406 BA) with 16 RBI, 15 runs scored and three homers in his last 10 games. Wilson is hitting .385 with five RBI and six walks over the same time frame.
Junior Spencer Garrison (West Salem/Northwestern) has been spot on in his last four appearances, tossing 8.2 innings of scoreless relief and seeing opponents hit a microscopic .107 with five strikeouts!
Jaxon Rogan (Marysville) leads the Beavers with 35 runs scored, while Duncan and Parker Reynolds (Avon) have driven in 30 runs apiece. Fellow senior Jacob Latkofsky (Temperence, Mich./Ida) has 29 runs scored, 20 RBI and 26 free passes. Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) leads the team with 59.2 innings pitched while going 3-5 with a 5.88 ERA.
Siemer has a team-best 65 punchouts and 5-3 mark in 11 starts. Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) has a 4.22 ERA with 48 strikeouts while starting nine games. Junior Seth Evans (Ada/OSU-Lima) is Bluffton's stopper out of the pen with five saves and a 2.95 ERA in 18.1 innings on the hill.
All games will be hosted by Transylvania University but played at the University of Kentucky's newly renovated stadium, Kentucky Proud Park.
Tickets are $10 and the event is open to the public.
Masks are required and all other health and safety policies posted by Transylvania University and/or the University of Kentucky must be followed.
Viewers may follow along via livestream and on Bluffton's social media.
