BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team battled back from a 7-2 deficit, but Ohio Northern scored in the 10th inning for an 8-7 victory that included a 30-minute lightning delay. Bluffton fell to 9-16 on the season, while the Polar Bears improved to 10-13.
An Evan Houseman (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) two-bagger plated Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) and Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) for a 2-0 lead after inning one. The visitors got one back in the fourth and then they posted three scores apiece in the sixth and seventh for a 7-2 lead over Bluffton.
Back-to-back singles by Ezra Deitering and Tyler Fuller (Lewis Center/Orange) followed by a Matthew Mitchell (Amelia/McNicholas) round tripper made it 7-5 heading to the eighth inning. Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) came through with a two-run single in the ninth, picking up Seth Altman (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) and Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg/Triad) and knotting it seven apiece in the process.
The cold-weather Bears scored a run in the top of the 10th and Bluffton had the tying run at third with the winning run at first in the bottom of the inning, but ONU got the final out after a 30-minute lightning delay.
Andrew Collinsworth (Westerville/Westerville South) started and gave the Beavers four superb innings, allowing just one run on one hit with four strikeouts. William Nowakowski (Grand Rapids/Swanton) worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, Ind.) fell to 2-4 despite giving up just one unearned run in two innings for the Beavers.
Houseman went 2-of-5 with two RBI. Mitchell drove in three, while Baumgartner chipped in with two RBI. Fuller added a pair of safeties for the home team.
Bluffton is on the road for another non-league tussle at Wittenberg tomorrow. The first pitch from Springfield is slated for 6 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
