BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team split a pair of one-run games with visiting Earlham College on Saturday, April 17, 2021. It was a Saturday for the ages as Bluffton hosted baseball, softball, football and the HCAC men's golf preview on the same day! The Beavers moved to 11-16 overall and in the Heartland Conference, while Earlham stands 16-11 on both accounts.
Earlham was up 1-0 when the Beavers scratched out a pair of tallies in the bottom of the fourth thanks to four hits and an Earlham error. Senior Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) doubled home Kenny Schneider (Sunbury/Big Walnut) and Jaxon Rogan (Marysville) crossed the dish courtesy of the Earlham miscue.
Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, MI/Ida) lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth and then his RBI groundout in the eighth made it 4-4 going to inning nine. The Quakers took advantage of a leadoff single in the ninth when Wissel stole second, moved to third on a groundout and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to right that fell to the ground. Bluffton was three up and three down in the home half as the Quakers took game one by a 5-4 count.
Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) gave the Beavers a gutty performance, allowing just four runs on 10 hits in eight innings on the hill. He struck out four and walked just one. Seth Evans (Ada/OSU-Lima) took the loss after allowing one run on one hit in the final frame.
Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) went 3-of-4, while Rogan finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) added three safeties in game one.
Schneider doubled home Duncan in the second inning of game two before a Parker Reynolds (Avon) sacrifice fly and Baumgartner RBI single in the third knotted the score at 3-3. Earlham pasted three tallies on the scoreboard in the sixth thanks to a pair of Bluffton boo-boos, but the home team rallied back with three of its own in the home half. Rogan delivered with a two-run triple that picked up Schneider and Duncan, making it 6-6 after six.
Back in the action two innings later, Schneider's base knock sent pinch runner Eddie Hardaway (Englewood/Northmont) scurrying across the plate! Evans worked around a leadoff single when Reynolds cut Pincura down trying the steal as the Beavers earned the split with a 7-6 victory in the nightcap.
Schneider went 3-of-4 with three RBI, while Latkofsky and Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) finished with two hits apiece. Duncan scored twice and Rogan drove in two runs.
Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) set down 10 Quakers while allowing six runs on six hits in six innings of work. Spencer Garrison (West Salem/Northwestern) gave the Beavers two scoreless frames for the victory and Evans closed it out with his second save of the season.
Bluffton will be on its home turf Wednesday when Anderson University comes to town for the first of its two trips over the course of five days. The April 21 contest is slated for 4:15 PM at Memorial Field.
-BEAVERS-