BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team dropped a pair of non-conference games to Wilmington on a warm Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The Quakers improved to 13-8-1 on the season, while Bluffton fell to 6-20 overall.
Game one was like a heavyweight fight and it took eight rounds to declare the winner. The Beavers scored in five of the eight innings, but Wilmington scored three in the final frame to capture a 10-8 victory in the lidlifdter.
The Quakers scored a run apiece in the first four frames, however, Bluffton knotted it with two in the second and two in the fourth. Junior Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) doubled home Hayley Lewis (Ketering/Fairmont) and Elizabeth Crites (Findlay) before her two-run two-bagger two innings later plated pinch runner Colleen Meese (Rocky River) and Crites.
Crites singled home Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) in the fifth, setting the stage for RBI singles from Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) and McCartney two frames later, sending the first game to extras! An RBI groundout for Riley Hammonds (Russia) gave the Beavers hope, but Wilmington held on for the 10-8 win in eight innings.
Lewis went the distance, allowing 10 runs on 16 hits in eight innings of work. McCartney smacked it around with two doubles and five RBI! Crites was 4-of-5 and scored three runs. Lewis helped her own cause with two base hits.
Bluffton fell behind 12-1 in game two and was on the verge of a mercy-rule finish when lightning struck. Following a 30-minute delay, the home team battled back with four runs in the home fifth. The Beavers took advantage of three errors as McCartney, Emily Hope (Enon/Greenon), Crites and Kayleigh Michael (Eaton/National Trail) all crossed the dish, pushing the game to inning six. The Quakers tacked on run number 13 in the seventh as the visitors capped off the sweep with a convincing 13-5 victory.
McCartney scroed twice in game two and she was one of four Beavers with hits in a nightcap that finished just before darkness settled over western Bluffton, much like the Eclipse a day earlier. Senior Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) fell to 2-10 after surrendering 10 runs on six hits in just 3.1 innings. She walked three and struck out one Quaker.
The Beavers are slated to host Anderson University in a Heartland Conference showdown on Thursday, April 11. Game one is set to tip at 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-