March 31, 2010

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team was unable to mount any significant offense against long-time rival Defiance College on Tuesday, March 31, 2010. Bluffton slipped to 7-11 overall and 0-4 in the Heartland Conference following the 5-2 setback, while Defiance improved to 8-8 overall and 2-2 in the HCAC.

The Beavers plated their only two runs of the game in the home half of the second inning. Michael Knorr (Pickerington/North) was hit by a pitch to open the frame and he moved to second on Stephen Torres' (Lima/Juan Diego) bunt single. Freshman Kyle Niermann (Napoleon) picked up Knorr with his base hit to right field before Nick Broyles (Toledo/Whitmer) made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to shallow right field.

Defiance answered back with three runs in top of the third despite opening the inning with consecutive outs. Back-to-back walks put runners on first and second for Brent Kremer who delivered a two-run double to the gap in left center before a Bluffton miscue allowed him to score as well.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on two more runs in the fourth thanks to three hits, a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch as Defiance made it 5-2 midway through the frame. Starter Nicholas Bratt did the rest, keeping Bluffton at bay as he tossed a complete-game eight-hitter for his third victory of the season.

Tyler Stephenson (Springfield/Northwestern) and Stephen Torres both collected two safeties for the Beavers who out-hit the visitors 8-7. Freshman Miles Richardson (Granville/Newark Catholic) fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss. He worked six innings, giving up five runs on five hits with two strikeouts and four walks. Ryan Leugers (Botkins) came on and worked three innings of scoreless relief to keep Bluffton within striking distance.

Bluffton travels to Cincinnati on Thursday, April 1, for the first two games of a Heartland Conference series with Mount St. Joseph. The three-game series is slated to be played at Xavier University, starting at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

-BEAVERS-