April 16, 2010

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Bluffton University baseball team saw a 5-3 lead late in the game slip away as St. Francis rallied for a 7-5 victory on Friday, April 16, 2010. Bluffton fell to 10-18 on the year, while USF upped its season mark to 11-29-1.

Kyle Niermann (Napoleon) singled, stole second and crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by sophomore Nick Broyles (Toledo/Whitmer) in the top of the first. St. Francis responded with two runs in the home half before Bluffton knotted it at two with a Miles Richardson (Granville/Newark Catholic) sacrifice fly in the second inning.

USF made it 3-2 with an unearned run in the third, but the Beavers plated two scores in the sixth for a 4-3 lead. Sophomore Tyler Stephenson (Springfield/Northwestern) opened with a leadoff walk and he went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brennan Bauman (Milford). Two Cougar errors allowed Stephenson to cross the plate and Richardson again came up big with a squeeze bunt that scored Michael Knorr (Pickerington/North).

Knorr came around to make it 5-3 midway through the eighth, however, St. Francis took advantage of five hits and a Bluffton error to plate four runs which made the final score 7-5 when the Beavers came up empty in the ninth.

Kyle Niermann led the Bluffton offense with three hits. Michael Knorr went 2-of-4 with two runs scored and Miles Richardson drove in a pair of runs. Adrian Fritch (Edon) fell to 1-2 after allowing four runs, just one earned, in the eighth frame. 

The Beavers return to action with another non-conference contest at Cedarville on Tuesday, April 20, 2010. The game is slated to start at 4 p.m.

-BEAVERS-