By Brian Steiner, sports information intern
April 28, 2003
The Bluffton College baseball team is determined to finish off the year successfully and proved it by winning two of their four contests last week. The two victories improved their record to 8-22 overall and 2-16 in the HCAC.
The Beavers will finish up the 2003 season this week in a three-game series with Manchester. Bluffton will host Manchester in the first contest on Fri., May 2 at 4 p.m., before heading to Manchester to take on the Spartans in a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. on Sat., May 3.
For the season, Bluffton is led offensively by junior Kyle Alberson, who leads the team in batting average (.404), runs scored (25), hits (36), homeruns (10), RBI (30), and slugging percentage (.843). Other key contributors are junior Bob Heitkamp, who has a .386 batting average, 16 runs scored, 34 hits, eight doubles, three homeruns, and 17 RBI, and senior Wes Hall, who is batting .308 with 14 runs scored, 28 hits, and 10 RBI.
BC started off the week with a bang as they defeated Cedarville University on Wed. by a score of 6-2. Senior Wes Hall played an excellent game as he pitched all nine innings to improve his record to 3-5 on the year, as well as going two-for-two at the plate with two RBI. Juniors Scott Van Eman and Ryan Fiely also added two hits as all six of BC's runs were unearned.
The victory could not be fully enjoyed as Alberson broke his hand from being hit by a pitch. The injury will force Alberson to miss the rest of the season. Despite this, Alberson finished the season with 10 homeruns, which was the most ever by a BC player. He also had a .843 slugging percentage, which was good enough for fifth best in BC history, and 30 RBI, which tied for sixth best.
The Beavers dropped a heartbreaker against Franklin College on Fri. as they lost 5-4 in 13 innings. Van Eman had three hits, Hall had two hits and three RBI, and sophomore Jason Moore had two hits to lead the Beavers offensively. Junior Josh Underwood pitched nine innings and had eight strikeouts.
Bluffton got even in the first game on Sat. by battling for a 2-1 victory. Freshman Steve Hastings had a solid outing as he pitched all seven innings and had four strikeouts to improve his record to 3-4 on the year. Offensively, BC was led by Fiely, who had one hit and an RBI, and junior Bob Heitkamp, who had one hit, an RBI, and scored a run.
The Beavers dropped the second contest by a score of 6-3. Freshman Randy Miller pitched six innings and added eight strikeouts, while Van Eman and junior Jim Dwenger had two hits apiece to lead Bluffton offensively.