BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team scored four runs in the eighth inning of game two to notch a split with Manchester University on a rainy Friday, May 7, 2021. Manchester moved to 18-19 on the season, while the Beavers stand 16-22 overall and in the Heartland Conference with the final regular season games slated for Sunday, May 9, when Bluffton travels to Defiance High School for a doubleheader with the rival Yellow Jackets from Defiance College.
A dropped fly in the top of the first put Manchester up 2-0 and the Spartans held that lead until inning seven when senior Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) launched a moon shot to left field for his second homer of the season. The home team knotted it up following a bases loaded walk to Reid Ruhl (Hamilton) that pushed Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) across the dish.
The Spartans responded with three runs in the top of the eighth and Carter Hooks finished what he started, polishing off the Beavers with a complete-game four hitter. He allowed two runs, one earned, with 11 strikeouts and four walks while tossing 144 pitches in game one.
Senior Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) gave the Beavers 7.1 superb innings, allowing five runs, just two earned, on four hits with eight punchouts and two walks. O'Reilly went 3-of-4 with a home run.
A four-run first by Manchester knocked out game-two starter Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) after just one inning. A 50-minute rain delay in the third inning slowed production as the day was moving at breakneck speed when the tarp went on in game two. The visitors tacked a run on in the fourth thanks to a single and three walks as Bluffton trailed 5-0 before an RBI double by Brandon Wilson (Casstown/Miami East) got the Beavers on the scoreboard in the home sixth.
It was still 5-1 in the eighth when the home team finally started to make some noise just before the clock struck midnight. With the bags full of Beavers, sophomore Nathaniel DeWeese (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) looped one down the right field line, scoring Duncan and Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington). Ruhl followed the same script, this time with a short fly to left center that found the grass for two more Bluffton tallies as everyone was on the move with two outs. When the mud settled, the Beavers led 6-5 heading to the the ninth following the back-to-back doubles by DeWeese and Ruhl.
Junior closer Seth Evans (Ado/OSU-Lima) nailed down his fifth save of the season with a perfect ninth after getting two outs in the eighth inning of game one!
Ruhl and Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) both smacked two hits in the second game. DeWeese and Ruhl both drove in two runs in that eighth-inning rally. Freshman Garrett Rice (Coshocton) earned the win in just his second collegiate appearance. Rice, Evans, Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, IN) and Spencer Garrison (West Salem/Northwestern) combined on 5.1 innings of no-hit relief, keeping the Beavers within striking distance.
Bluffton will put a bow on its 2021 regular season when the Beavers travel to Defiance High School for a twin-bill with the Jackets on Sunday, May 9. Game one is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
