March 3, 2014
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Bluffton University baseball team fell behind 4-0 in the first inning but the Beavers responded with a barrage of 10 runs over the next three innings en route to their 13-4 victory over Emerson on Monday, March 3. Bluffton evened its record at 1-1, while the Lions slipped to 0-3 following the loss.
Three hits and two errors added up to a 4-0 Emerson lead before the first Beaver made his way to the plate. The Lions worked around two walks in the bottom of the inning before Bluffton put three tallies up in the bottom of the second. A leadoff walk to Mike Castro (Reynoldsburg), base knocks by Christian Vail (Lucas) and David Ianiro (Mayfield), an error and a wild pitch made the score 4-3 after two frames.
Vail found himself in the middle of another big inning just one frame later when his single allowed Tim Webb (Delaware/Worthington Christian) and Luke Hickey (Toledo/Whitmer) to cross the dish. Jeff Roth (Bellevue) picked Vail up with a groundout before Ianiro singled home Michael Alexander (Monroe).
Mike Castro laced a two-run single in the fourth and when he crossed the plate following a wild pitch, Bluffton had turned a 4-0 deficit into a 10-4 advantage.
Bluffton added a score in the sixth and two more in the eighth thanks to a two-RBI single that pushed Ianiro and Doug Paullin (Jeromesville/Hillsdale) across the dish.
Ianiro, Webb and Vail all powered the Beavers with three hits in the victory. Castro scored three times, while Webb, Castro and Roth all drove in two runs. Ben Roeschley (Graymont, Ill./Flanagan) went six strong innings for the victory, allowing four runs, two earned, with six strikeouts and no free passes. Landen Brown (Lebanon) closed it out with three shutout innings for his first career save. He allowed two hits and one walk, while striking out three Lions.
Bluffton hits the diamond again in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. when they do battle with a strong Moravian College squad.
-BEAVERS-