By: Joseph Watkins, sports information assistant 

FORT MYERS, Fla. - After kicking off the season with two wins, the Beavers dropped a pair on Monday, March 4, to Moravian (11-8) and Ohio-rival Otterbein University (8-3). Bluffton now stands 2-2 on the year with seven games left in the Sunshine State. 

The Beavers struck in the bottom of the first after an RBI double by sophomore Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, MI/Ida) that would plate one for Bluffton, making it 1-0 going into the second. Bluffton added three more the next inning when sophomore Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) took advantage of Moravian's miscues. A Colin Gregory (Fremont/Clyde) sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 4-1.

Unfortunately, the Beavers would give up a five spot in the top half of the fourth inning. Bluffton's offense went silent after the fourth while the Greyhounds continued with five more scores for the 11-8 victory. 

Bluffton would rattle off seven hits in the loss, compared to 14 for Moravian. Ruhl led the way for the Beavers, going 2-of-4 at the plate and tallying two RBI in the loss. 

Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) and Dante D'Andrea (Westerville/North) would combine for nine innings of work with D'Andrea taking the loss. 

After a short break, the Beavers were back on the field to face off against Otterbein University in their final game of the day. Bluffton struggled to put runs up for most of the contest before finally get cracking the board in the top of the seventh when Ruhl and Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/La Salle) crossed the plate. The final tally would come in the eighth inning but was not enough in the 8-3 loss to the Cardinals.  

Bluffton managed just six hits while Otterbein pounded out 13 against the Beavers. Otterbein and Bluffton combined for seven errors in the game. 

The Beavers will be back in action on Tuesday, March 5, when they play two against Saint John's (Minn). Game one is slated for 12 p.m. with game two at approximately 3 p.m. 

-BEAVERS-