Beavers home opener is March 18

FORT MYERS, Fla.--The Bluffton University baseball team capped off its week in Florida with a split on Saturday, March 11. An 11-0 victory over North Central (Minn.) was the highlight and then the fans were treated to an exciting final game. The Beavers battled all the way to the end, but Muskingum scored in the home ninth for a 12-11 walkoff win. Bluffton stands 4-5 after going 4-4 at the Gene Cusic Classic.

Bluffton tallied all the runs it would need in inning one as the Beavers went up 2-0 in the Saturday opener. Grant Hovest (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) scored on a wild pitch following a Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) double to left field. Sophomore Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) plated Towell with his sacrifice fly and the score was 2-0 after one frame.

Freshman Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg/Triad) doubled in Kaden Bowman (Hilliard/Davidson) before a Hovest squeeze bunt sent Nathaniel DeWeese (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) across the dish for a 4-0 lead an inning later.

Hovest and Maurer added RBI singles in the fifth, making it 6-0, and then Spriggs pushed the lead to 8-0 in the sixth when he smacked a two-run double to left field. Hovest made it 9-0 with his second run-scoring knock in as many innings!

Evan Houseman (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) and Bowman added RBI's in the sixth as Bluffton notched a 7-inning mercy-rule victory in its Saturday lidlifter.

Hovest was 2-of-3 with three RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Spriggs took advantage of his first collegiate start at 3rd base, going 2-of-3 with three RBI and a pair of doubles. DeWeese and Towell both ripped two hits in game one. Maurer drove in two runs, while DeWeese scored three times.

Sophomore Andrew Collinsworth (Westerville/Westerville South) was nearly untouchable on the hill, allowing just two hits in a complete-game shutout! He walked two and fanned six, needing only 90 pitches to get it done.

Game two resembled a ping pong match as it went back and forth for nine innings. Bluffton battled back from four-run deficits twice, but Muskingum served for the win, scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with the 12-11 victory.

Trailing 4-0 heading to the top of the second, Bluffton rattled off five runs to take a 5-4 lead over the Fighting Muskies. Ezra Deitering (Ottawa/Miller City) got the Beavers on the board with his single up the middle. Towell followed with a two-run base hit to left and the Beavers added two more unearned tallies when Muskingum threw it away after an infield hit by Maurer.

The home team on the scoreboard slapped two runs up in the third and three more in the fifth, opening up a 9-5 spread before a four-run Bluffton seventh knotted it up at 9-9. Towell lifted a sacrifice fly to center and back-to-back free passes for Adam Yoh (Milford) and Deitering pushed two more runs across the dish. An infield single for Nick Diana (Batavia/West Clermont) picked up Bowman and set everything square again.

With the teams continuing to trade runs each inning, it was a Muskingum RBI single in the bottom of the ninth that ended Bluffton's shot at a Saturday sweep. Bluffton had tied the game in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI double by Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start).

Diana clubbed it with a 4-of-6 game on Saturday afternoon. He scored twice for the Beavers. Towell, Yoh, Hovest and Kenny Schneider (Sunbury/Big Walnut) chipped in with two hits apiece. Diana, Towell and Hovest all scored two runs against the Muskies. Towell led the Beavers with three RBI and Deitering drove in two runs.

Senior starter Carson Curnutte (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) allowed six runs on 11 hits in 2.1 innings of work but did not factor in the decision. Jake Shaver (New London) took the loss when Muskingum scored in the ninth. 

Bluffton will return to the northern states on Sunday and start preparing for its home opener with Albion College on Saturday, March 18. Game one of two from Memorial Field is slated for 12:00 p.m.