By: Joseph Watkins and Nick Taflinger, sports information assistants
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Bluffton University baseball team dropped two at Rose-Hulman in a pivotal HCAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 27. They dropped game one by the score of 2-0 before a 7-run first inning propelled the Engineers to an 11-5 victory in game two.
Bluffton was getting runners on base, but the visitors were unable to capitalize on any opportunities. Rose-Hulman took the lead in the fifth and hit a solo shot in the eighth en route to a 2-0 victory.
The Beavers went 10-for-35 at the plate in game one. The 10 hits put up by Bluffton marked the most Rose ace Luke Buehler, a lock for HCAC Pitcher of the Year, has surrendered all season as the junior standout has allowed just 38 hits in 52 innings of work.
Parker Reynolds (Avon) was a perfect 3-of-3 in the opener. Lenny Winiarski (Cincinnati/LaSalle) went 2-for-3.
Junior Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota) was outstanding in his return to the rotation, giving up just one run on three hits in five innings of work. Brantley Curnutte (Hilliard/Davidson) pitched the final three innings for the Beavers and gave up the exact stat line as Siemer with three hits and one run.
The Beavers saw Rose paste a seven-spot on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. They would get two of those runs back in the second and third innings when Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) hit into a fielder's choice before Colin Gregory (Fremont/Clyde) smacked a solo shot in the top of the third, tying the single-season record of 10 homers held by Kyle Alberson and Nick Broyles!
Rose-Hulman would tack on four more runs in the bottom of the third inning to make it 11-2 after just three innings of action. Bluffton pulled closer with three tallies in the fourth and fifth innings. A Gregory single plated two in the fourth and Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance,MI/Ida) scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth, making the score 11-5.
Gregory was a whopping 4-of-5 in the capper with one of those hits being his 10th long ball of the season. He drove in three runs for the Beavers.
Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season. He went two-thirds of an inning, giving up six hits on seven runs and striking out one. Cam Clark (Cairo/Bath) and Dante D'Andrea (Westerville/North) combined on 5.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Bluffton will be back in action on Saturday, May 4, when the Beavers travel to Transylvania to take on the Pioneers in the final Heartland Conference series of the season. The first pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-