BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team put it all together on a beautiful Monday, April 12, 2021. Bluffton swept a pair of mercy-rule contests with the Lions thanks to timely hitting and two outstanding pitching performances by seniors Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) and Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East). The Beavers improved to 9-15 overall and in the Heartland Conference. MSJ fell to 8-16 on both accounts.
After two and a half quick innings to open game one, Bluffton pushed two runs across the dish in the bottom of the third. A bases-loaded walk to Parker Reynolds (Avon) was followed by a wild pitch that sent Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, MI/Ida) scurrying home for a 2-0 lead.
The floodgates opened an inning later when Bluffton put together five runs on the strength of five hits and two MSJ errors. Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) was in the middle of it with a two-run single and Jake Baumgartner's (Toledo/Start) base hit plated Reynolds for a 7-0 Beaver lead after four frames.
Four walks and a two-run double by sophomore Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) set up Nathaniel DeWeese (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) for some seventh-inning heroics as the sophomore pinch hitter laced a single to left that ended game one 10-0 in mercy-rule fashion!
O'Reilly tossed a gem on Monday, allowing just three hits in his complete-game shutout. He struck out five and walked three while improving to 2-3 on the season.
Towell went 3-of-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Reynolds and Winiarski both chipped in with two RBI, while Latkofsky and Jaxon Rogan (Marysville) both scored three times in game one.
Siemer took the handoff in game two and ran with it, striking out nine Lions through the first three innings. His offense gave him all the runs he would need with a four-spot in the bottom of the first. Reynolds doubled home Latkofsky and Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) delivered Reynolds and Towell with his triple to right field. Luke Hanson (Somerset/Sheridan) made it 4-0 when his ringing double to left plated Strayer.
Rogan ripped a stand-up triple to open the second and he walked in thanks to a single from Reid Ruhl (Hamilton). The Lions scored their first run of the day in the top of the fourth, but Bluffton responded with four more tallies in the bottom half. The home team caught MSJ napping after a Luke McDonald (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) bunt single and three errors later, the Beavers were up 9-1 going to the fifth inning.
An RBI double from Ruhl in the fifth followed by a Lion tally in the sixth had the good guys up 10-2 midway through inning seven. With the bags full of Beavers, Towell lifted a ball that got caught in the jetstream, allowing Ruhl and Rogan to cross the dish and put MSJ out of its misery with the second mercy-rule finish in three hours!
Siemer was on fire, fanning 10 Lions in 5.2 innings of work while improving to 4-1 on the season! He allowed six hits and two walks before sophomore Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, IN) wrapped it up with four outs over the next five batters.
Ruhl went 3-of-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Towell knocked in three and Rogan scored three runs for the second time on Monday. Strayer drove in two runs, while DeWeese crossed the dish twice.
Bluffton will be back at Memorial Field on Thursday, April 15, when the Beavers welcome rival Defiance College to Allen County for the second time in 13 days. The first pitch is slated to go off at 4:15 p.m.
-BEAVERS-