BLUFFTON, Ohio - In a tale of two vastly different games, the end result was the same as Bluffton University came out on the wrong end of a Heartland Conference sweep. Bluffton fell to 17-18 overall and 6-8 in the Heartland Conference on a day when Manchester improved to 11-21 and 6-7 in the HCAC.
The home team used a Colin Gregory (Fremont/Clyde) sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 Manchester after three innings, but that was all the Beavers could muster as Bluffton dropped game one by a 3-1 count.
Brantley Curnutte (Hilliard/Davidson) gave Bluffton all he could, battling through six innings while limiting the Spartans to a pair of runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks. Junior Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) struck out two in 2.1 innings of relief. Jacob Latkofsky (Temperence, MI/Ida) went 2-of-4 in the lidlifter.
Bluffton fell behind 17-2 midway through the fifth inning of game two en route to the 18-9 Manchester victory. The Beavers scored two apiece in the sixth, seventh and eighth, but it was too little, too late as the visitors wrapped up the conference sweep.
Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle), Alex Lemanski (Miamisburg) and Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) all rapped two hits in the nightcap. Parker Reynolds (Avon) Zac Nobis (Bryan) and Lemanski all drove in two runs. Reynolds scored three times and Duncan crossed the dish twice.
Cam Clark (Cairo/Bath) fell to 2-4 after allowing eight runs on nine hits in two innings of work. Curnette slipped to 0-3 following the game one loss.
Bluffton is off until Saturday, April 27, when the Beavers travel to Rose-Hulman for a Heartland Conference double dipper with the Engineers. The first game is slated for a noon start.
-BEAVERS-