NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Bluffton University baseball team was at Manchester University for the second time in the past two weeks when the Beavers traveled to North Manchester on Good Friday, April 2, 2021. Bluffton cleaned up with a 14-3 victory in game one before the Spartans secured the split with a 7-3 win in the nightcap as Bluffton moved to 4-13 overall and in the Heartland Conference.
Bluffton jumped on top with two runs in the top of the first when Parker Reynolds (Avon) singled home Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) and then came around himself thanks to an Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) double to right field. A Manchester error in the third allowed Jacob Latkofsky (Temperence, Mich./Ida) to score, making it 3-1 in favor of the good guys.
Sophomore Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) lifted a sacrifice fly to center in the fifth, plating Ruhl, before another Spartan miscue allowed Latkofsky to scurry home for a 5-1 lead. Manchester answered with a pair of runs in the home half, but Latkofsky delivered again in the sixth with his two-bagger that drove in Ruhl and Jaxon Rogan (Marysville).
The Manchester wheels all came off in the top of the ninth when Bluffton exploded for seven runs on five hits and three Spartan errors. Rogan delivered the knockout blow with his first collegiate home run, a grand slam to right field that helped Bluffton cap off its 14-3 victory in the lidlifter!
Senior Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) was sensational on the hill, tossing eight innings of three-run ball for his first victory of the season. He struck out six and walked just one in his seven-hitter. Junior Sam Meek (Hope, Ind./Hauser) closed it out with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning.
Latkofsky went 4-of-6 with three runs scored and two RBI. Reynolds finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Rogan torched the Spartans with a 3-of-5 effort that included four RBI and two runs scored. Ruhl crossed the dish four times with two hits. Dancan chipped in with a pair of safeties and two RBI.
Reynolds singled home Latkofsky for a 1-0 lead in game two, but scores by Manchester in each of the first three innings had the Beavers down 3-1 going to the fifth inning. Towell drove in Rogan with his single to center and Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) followed with an RBI base knock to right field that plated Towell in the top of the fifth.
A three-run Manchester sixth proved to be the difference as Bluffton dropped game two by a 7-3 count when the Beavers were unable to scratch out any runs over the final four frames.
Freshman Seth Altman (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) allowed three runs, just one earned, in his five-inning start. He struck out five and walked two but did not figure in the decision. Jacob Daulton (Batavia) took the loss after giving up four runs, one earned, on six hits in three innings of relief.
Reynolds went 4-of-5, helping the fifth-year senior to a 7-of-10 effort on Saturday. Towell added a pair of singles in game two.
Bluffton will jump right back into action on Saturday, April 3, when the Beavers welcome rival Defiance College, led by Head Coach Derek Woodley, to Memorial Field. Game one is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-