March 13, 2015

TOLEDO, Ohio - It may have been the second Friday the 13th in as many months, but the Bluffton University baseball team felt no ill effects as the Beaver pitchers were up to the task when they made the short trip up Interstate 75 to face Lourdes College. Three late runs propelled Bluffton to a 3-2 victory over the Gray Wolves as Coach Grandey was reunited with former student assistant Tim Berta who has been in the Lourdes dugout as an assistant for the past three years.

Lourdes took advantage of a pair of walks in the bottom of the second when Bill Laranga ripped an RBI double to left for an early 1-0 lead. The visitors finally broke through for a pair of tallies in the sixth when three Bluffton hits put the Beavers on top, 2-1. Freshman Reid Maus (Hamilton/Badin) singled home T.J. DeVore (Grove City), knotting the game before Luke Hickey's (Toledo/Whitmer) infield base knock picked up Michael Alexander (Monroe) for the 2-1 lead.

Bluffton tacked on a crucial insurance run in the eighth as a Lourdes error came back to haunt the home team when Mike Castro (Reynoldsburg) singled home Jason Colliver (Beavercreek) for a 3-1 advantage. The Gray Wolves pulled closer with an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, but with the sacks full Austin Prosser (Galion) induced a fly ball to center for the 3-2 victory. 

Alexander went 3-of-4 while Hickey, Castro and Maus all finished with two safeties, adding up to nine hits for the visitors. Nate Simonds (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) improved to 2-1 after allowing just one run on two hits in six innings of work. He struck out four and walked four in the victory. Corey Johnson (Waverly) and Taylor Gambrell (Bowling Green) worked back-to-back perfect frames in relief before Prosser recorded the final two outs for his first save.

Bluffton will travel to Westfield, Ind. on Sunday, March 15, for a doubleheader with Goshen College. The first of two seven-inning contests is slated for 5 p.m. at Grand Park.

-BEAVERS-