By Bill Hanefeld Jr., sports information director
March 11, 2006
FORT MYERS, Fl. - The Bluffton University baseball team fell to 3-5 with a pair of losses at the Gene Cusic Classic on Friday, March 10, 2006. The Beavers dropped their first game to undefeated John Carroll (8-0) by a final score of 8-3 and lost 15-11 to the Coast Guard Academy (4-2) in the afternoon.
GAME 1 - JOHN CARROLL 8, BLUFFTON 3
John Carroll picked up a run in the first inning when it sandwiched a pair of singles around a walk to take the early 1-0 lead.
The Beavers found themselves down 5-0 after a third inning that saw John Carroll rip three hits, including a WYSMIER double and a three-run SNIDER home run, to plate four runs.
Following a pair of outs to start the top of the fourth inning, RIORDAN MCCLAIN (Upper Sandusky/Upper Sandusky) started the Bluffton comeback when he was hit by a pitch. He moved to second on a CURTIS SCHROEDER (Shelby/Shelby) single up the middle. A pair of wild pitches and an error on the John Carroll shortstop allowed both McClain and Schroeder to score cutting the deficit to three runs in the fourth.
John Carroll tacked on a run in the fifth when WADE opened the inning with a double to right center. A Bluffton error allowed him to cross the plate.
LOWELL WYSE (Camden, Mich./Hesston J.C.) opened the eighth with a triple to right center. He crossed the plate on a TONY MOORE (Elida/Elida) groundout to the shortstop, but the Beavers failed to push any more runs across the plate as John Carroll picked up the 8-3 victory over Bluffton to keep its record perfect at 8-0.
The Beavers were limited to five hits with Wyse collecting the lone extra-base hit for Bluffton. John Carroll finished with eight hits, but a pair of dingers helped the team plate eight runs.
TIM KAY (0-2) went 7.1 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits to take the loss for the Beavers. He struck out seven and issued only two walks in the contest.
GAME 2 - COAST GUARD ACADEMY 15, BLUFFTON 11
Bluffton started quickly against the Coast Guard Academy in its second game of the day. Tony Moore picked up a leadoff walk and moved to third when Riordan McClain doubled to right center. Tim Kay (Alpharetta Ga./Blessed Trinity) picked up two RBI's on his double to left center which gave the Beavers a 2-0 lead after one inning.
Lowell Wyse doubled to right center following a pair of strikeouts and scored on a Moore single in the second inning.
RYAN BAIGHTEL (Wapakoneta/Wapakoneta) rapped the Beavers' fourth double of the game on a JARBEAU offering and it plated Kay who had led off the frame with a single up the middle.
The Coast Guard Academy put together three hits in the fourth to push two runs across the plate.
Bluffton took advantage of a pair of walks, a hit batter and an error in the fifth to score four runs before the dust settled. AUSTIN GRAY (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) knocked a double to left center and scored following walks to Wyse and Moore. McClain picked up a pair of RBI's when he singled to right center.
The Coast Guard answered in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on four hits and a Bluffton error. Consecutive singles by FRANKLIN and ARENA were followed by a three-run shot to center field from Jarbeau who finished the game 5-of-6 with three dingers and nine RBI's.
McClain plated Wyse and moved Moore to third with his RBI single to left center in the top of the seventh. Moore crossed the plate on a wild pitch from GUIDO.
Coast Guard banged out five hits in the bottom of the seventh to chase reliever RANDY MILLER (Willard/Willard) and cut the deficit to two runs (10-8) heading into the eighth inning.
Following a Franklin single in the eighth, Jarbeau drove an AARON KRIEGER (Ida, Mich./Ida) offering over the center field wall to knot the game at 10.
McClain reached on an error to start the ninth inning. He stole second and moved to third on a GREG SIGG (Maumee/Maumee) single to right field. Schroeder picked him up with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Krieger struck out HIGGINS and induced KEEFE into a groundout to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Back-to-back infield errors and consecutive walks allowed the Coast Guard to tie the game at 11 with Jarbeau coming to the plate. He drilled his third homer of the day to right center field for a walk off grand slam which gave the Academy a 15-11 victory over the Beavers.
Aaron Krieger pitched the final 2.1 innings giving up seven runs, only two were earned, on three hits to take the loss for Bluffton.
McClain went 4-of-6 at the plate, including a pair of doubles, and led the Beavers with three RBI's. Moore, Kay and Sigg all collected two hits and Lowell Wyse scored three times in the loss.
Tim Kay leads the Beavers with a .556 average at the plate (10-of-18) and eight RBI's. Riordan McClain is hitting .536 (15-of-28) and has scored 11 times. Freshman Curtis Schroeder has a .474 bating average (9-of-19) through the first eight games.
Following the Beavers Saturday game with Muskingum College, they will return from the Gene Cusic Classic to host Capital on Tuesday, March 14 at 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-