LEESBURG, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team downed a solid Concordia-Chicago club by a 7-6 margin on Friday, March 8, for its first win of the season. Game two saw Carthage knock off the Beavers 10-0 in five innings. Carthage improved to 7-5, while Bluffton stands 1-9 as it prepares to head north on Saturday.
Bluffton jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Concordia when an errant attempt to finish off a double play sailed into right field, allowing sophomore Julia Tegeder (Hamilton) and Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) to cross the dish. A Madelynn Vickers (Oakwood/Kettering) sacrifice fly in the second plated Kayleigh Michael (Eaton/National Trail) who doubled to lead off the frame.
Emily Hope (Enon/Greenon) laced an RBI single down the left field line an inning later making it 4-0 in favor of the Beavers. Concordia scored two in the fourth, but Bluffton answered back with two of its own in the fifth when Ashley Kloeker (Troy) and Vickers stepped up with RBI singles.
Another run-scoring base knock from Hope pushed the lead to 7-2 in the top of the sixth and Beavers held on for dear life as Concordia pounded out four runs in the bottom of the inning before Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) slammed the door with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. She notched her first save in the process!
Hope nailed down her first collegiate victory, allowing four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work. Tegeder, Hope and Riley Hammonds (Russia) all smacked two hits in the victory. Hope drove in two and Grant scored twice.
The Bluffton bats were silenced by Carthage in game two as the Beavers managed just two hits. A Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) single up the middle in the first inning and an Elizabeth Crites (Findlay) rip down the left field line in the fifth was not enough as the Firebirds churned out 10 runs on eight hits and four Bluffton errors in just five innings.
Senior Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) was saddled with the loss, falling to 0-5 after allowing seven runs on five hits in 3.0 innings of work. She walked two batters in game two.
Bluffton will make the short trip to Tiffin on Wednesday, March 13, for a doubleheader with Heidelberg University. Game one is slated for 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
