BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team dropped a non-conference doubleheader to rival Defiance College on a warm Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Defiance improved to 5-8-1 on the season, while the Beavers slipped to 3-9.
The Yellow Jackets took advantage of four hits and a Bluffton error in the top of the first to go up 4-0 before the Beavers took their first turn at the dish. A two-run Hubble homer in the second inning made it 6-0 before another 4-spot in the third pushed the Jacket lead to 10-0. Hubble delivered with her second tater in as many innings following a two-run single by Roberts.
Junior Taylor Shimp (St. Marys/Memorial) broke up the no-no with a one-out single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Sydney Bowen (Convoy/Crestview) followed with a base knock down the left field line. A Sydney Zinkon (Fresno/Ridgewood) RBI single plated Shimp but Bowen was gunned down trying for third as the visitors took game one 10-1 in five innings.
Junior Grace Fillinger (Hinkley/Highland) surrendered six runs on eight hits in just two innings on the bump.
Game two saw the Jackets go out on top in the first frame one again, this time 2-0. However, a dropped fly by Defiance in the home half allowed Bobbi Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Rutherford B. Hayes) to cross the dish. A Shimp single picked up Taylor Steinke (Findlay) knotting the game at 2-2 heading to inning two.
The Beavers took their first lead of the afternoon in inning three when Shimp plated Bowen with a bases-loaded single. Bluffton went up 4-2 on a Riley Langstaff (Findlay) ground ball that pushed Adams across the plate.
With Bluffton holding a slim 4-3 lead, Adams came up big with a double to center that plated Bowen for a 5-3 lead. Hubble, who torched the Bluffton hurlers with six RBI and two homers on the day. tied it at 5-5 with her two-run single up the gut. Moller's RBI groundout proved to be the game winner (6-5) when Bluffton came up empty in the seventh.
Senior Katie McCord (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) fell to 1-3 after allowing six runs on 11 hits in a complete-game effort. She struck out three and walked two Yellow Jackets.
Shimp, Bowen and Adams all finished with two hits in the nightcap. Shimp drove in two, while Bowen and Adams each scored twice.
Bluffton is slated to host Manchester University on Thursday, March 25 with the first pitch at 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
