By: Joseph Watkins, sports information assistant
OBERLIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team dropped their home opener to Hiram, 15-3, at Oberlin College on Thursday, March 14. The Beavers slipped to 5-7 overall, while Hiram stand at 2-7 on the season.
With the Beavers in a 3-0 hole going into the bottom half of the third inning, they were looking to get on the board and into striking distance. They did just that when Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, MI/Ida) doubled down the left field field line, plating fellow sophomore Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) and making it 3-1 in favor of the Terriers.
Hiram added one more run in the top half of the fourth before Bluffton made it 4-2 when Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) lifted a sacrifice fly to center. In the bottom of the fifth, Colin Gregory (Fremont/Clyde) launched his team-best sixth homer of the season, pulling Bluffton to within two runs at 5-3. Hiram responded with four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh en route to a 15-3 victory on Thursday afternoon.
Gregory's home run was the bright spot for Bluffton as his six dingers are four more than anybody else in the Heartland Conference.
A plethora of Beavers saw time on the mound with the Bluffton hurlers surrendering 15 runs and 20 hits at Oberlin. Junior Cam Clark (Cairo/Bath) finished with a team-high four strikeouts while falling to 1-1 on the season.
Bluffton is back in action on Saturday, March 16, when they host Albion College in a doubleheader. Game one is slated to start at 1 p.m. with game two at approximately 4 p.m. pending the weather. Go Beavers!
-BEAVERS-