CLERMONT, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team flew into Orlando on Saturday and kicked off its 2024 slate at The Spring Games on Sunday, March 3. The rain held off, but the Beavers struggled to hit the ball in a pair of losses to Wentworth at Elms at Legends Way Field 1 in Clermont, Fla.

Wentworth scored a quick run in the first inning of game one before adding two more in the fourth frame. It was 3-0 in favor of the visitors on the scoreboard when junior Kayleigh Michael (Eaton/National Trail) laced a single to left for Bluffton's first hit of the game.

Two more Wentworth tallies pushed the spread to five in the seventh and that was more than enough as the Beavers dropped their 2024 opener by a 5-0 count.

Senior Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) took the loss following a complete-game effort. She surrendered five runs on 10 hits with five walks and three strikeouts in game one.

Game two saw the Beavers jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first frame. A Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) triple plated Ashley Kloeker (Troy) and Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) before Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) picked up Grant with an RBI groundout.

Elms scored a run in the bottom half, but Bluffton answered back with a run-scoring double from Kloeker in the top of the second. Kloeker lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Bluffton tacked two more on in the fifth, but a five-run sixth for Elms set the team from Massachusetts up for a walk-off in the seventh. The home team on the scoreboard scored two on a base knock to center, wrapping up a rally from six runs down in the sixth inning.

Grant went 2-of-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Kloeker knocked in two runs as well. Emily Hope (Enon/Greenon) gave up six runs on 11 hits, but she did not factor in the decision. Fleshman dipped to 0-2 after allowing two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Beavers will be back at Legends Way in Clermont on Monday, March 4, when they take on Emmanuel and Marian, starting at 4 p.m.

-BEAVERS-