March 8, 2017

Stats

FORT MYERS, Fla. -  The Bluffton University baseball team scored early and often en route to a 14-3 victory over Pitt-Bradford on Wednesday, March 8. Corey Johnson (Chillicothe) took care of the other side of the ledger with a complete-game effort, helping the Beavers rest the bullpen with three games yet to play over the next two days. Bluffton improved to 5-1 on the season, while Pitt-Bradford slipped to 2-6.

Luke Hickey (Toledo/Whitmer) singled to open the game and two outs later, fellow senior Blake Fox (Berne Ind./South Adams) pounded his first long ball of the season for a quick 2-0 lead. The Beavers made it 6-0 two innings later when Tanner Hodges (Taylor, Mich./John F. Kennedy) ripped a two-run single and Hickey followed with a triple that plated Dennis Szalai (LaGrange/Keystone) and Hodges.

Colin Gregory (Fremont/Clyde) got in on the action when he sandwiched an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run base knock in the fifth around a Ryan Golden (Findlay) single that picked up two more Beavers. Austin Prosser (Galion) singled home Szalai in the fifth before Fox plated Hickey and Clayton Siders (Delaware/Worthington Christian) in the sixth for a 14-2 lead.

Bradford added a sacrifice fly in the ninth, but Johnson finished what he started, tossing a complete-game eight-hitter. He fanned eight and issued just two free passes as the senior gave Bluffton's bullpen a much-needed day off!

Hickey paced the offense with a 4-of-5 afternoon at the plate, including two runs scored and two RBI. Prosser, Fox and Gregory all piled up three hits in the victory. Fox drove in four runs, while Gregory added three RBI. Siders, Fox, Prosser and Szalai all crossed the dish two times. Hodges and Golden chipped in with two RBI apiece.

Bluffton is back in action on Thursday, March 9, for a 9 p.m. meeting with Alvernia at Terry Park 3.

-BEAVERS-