By: Evan Miller, sports information assistant
April 4, 2009
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team fell to 8-15 overall and 3-8 in the Heartland Conference as Anderson University completed a three-game sweep of the Beavers at Memorial Field on Saturday, April 4, 2009. The Ravens upped their season record to 15-8, with a 5-2 mark in the HCAC.
Bluffton fell behind in the second inning as Anderson put two on the board. The Ravens scored their first run when Brady Roundtree reached on a fielder's choice with runners on second and third. Catcher Brad Lantz scored on the play. Roundtree came around following a single by Grant Choler and a Bluffton throwing error.
Anderson added another run to their lead when Jeremy Hazen hit a solo shot over the fence in right-center, making the score 3-0. Anderson seemed poised to take control of the game as they were also able to add two more runs in the top of the fourth. Choler stepped up to the plate with runners on second and third and singled to right field, scoring Roundtree and David Addington for a 5-0 lead. The Beavers got out of the inning on a double play turned by shortstop Kyle Trainer (Mechanicsburg) and first baseman Brennan Bauman (Milford).
Bluffton finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Center fielder Nick Broyles (Toledo/Whitmer) opened the inning with a double. Broyles moved to third as Brett Howard (Toledo/St. Francis) grounded out. Broyles scored on a wild pitch, but that was it for the Beavers in the fourth.
Anderson would add another run in the top of the sixth inning, and Bluffton entered the bottom of the seventh facing a 6-2 deficit. Bluffton made a game of it as the Beavers scored three runs in the last frame. Tyler Stephenson (Springfield/Northeastern) went to second when the Ravens dropped his inning opening fly ball. Senior Cory Conn (London) followed with a single up the middle, plating Stephenson as Bluffton trimmed the lead to 6-3 with nobody out.
After Brennan Bauman, who homered in the fifth, lined out to left, Mike Ramthun (Springfield/Southeastern) pounded a two-run bomb to right field, scoring Conn and making the score 6-5 with just one out. The Beavers had their comeback fall just short as Anderson's Kyle Dillon retired the next two batters to secure the win.
Mike Ramthun went 1-of-3 at the plate with his two-run homer. Cody McPherson (Northwood/Millbury Lake) fell to 2-2 with his complete game loss. He gave up six runs on 13 hits with three strikeouts.
Anderson took the second game of the double-header by a score of 17-2. The Ravens would overwhelm the Beavers, scoring in six of nine innings.
In the bottom of the first, Bluffton came to bat down 2-0. The home team also scored in the inning as they tried to keep pace with the visitors. Nick Broyles led off with a double to right center. Brett Howard moved Broyles over with a sacrifice bunt and he scored from third on a Cody McPherson ground out.
The Ravens would score four more runs in the second, pushing the score to 6-2. By the end of the fifth inning the score was 12-1, as Bluffton could not mount an offensive attack. The other run scored by Bluffton did not come until the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, senior Allen Slabaugh (Dalton) opened the frame with a single up the middle. Curtis Schroeder (Shelby) would be hit by a pitch two batters later to send Slabaugh to second with one out. Greg Bergstedt (Napoleon/Patrick Henry) then laced an RBI single to right field, scoring Slabaugh. Anderson shut the Beavers down in the ninth to complete the sweep with a 17-2 game three thrashing.
Ryan Leugers (Botkins) fell to 2-3 as Bluffton used five pitchers in the loss. Leugers went 3.1 innings, giving up 10 runs on eight hits. Brennan Bauman went 2-of-4 at the plate. Scoring runs for Bluffton were Broyles and Slabaugh. McPherson and Bergstedt both knocked in runs for the Beavers.
Aaron Vogel got the win for Anderson, pitching seven solid innings. Vogel (3-1) only gave up one run as he scattered six hits. Cody Young had five RBI in the game, going 2-4 and also scoring two runs. Roundtree and Young each had a home run in the game.
Bluffton will next hit the diamond at Manchester on Tuesday, April 7, in a Heartland Conference contest that is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
-BEAVERS-