By: Colton Steiner
AUBURNDALE, Fla. - The Bluffton University baseball squad would face off with Trine University on a cloudy Wednesday in a game that went down to the wire. Despite leading by two, a late comeback in the ninth from the Thunder lifted them over the Beavers, 5-4, to move them to 3-4 on the season while Bluffton dropped to 1-4 overall.
A wild pitch from Trine with the bases loaded in the top of the second pushed home the first run of the game for the Beavers, putting them up 1-0 early. After a scoreless third inning, the Thunder would get on the board with a single to shortstop that would bring home a pair of runs following a throwing error from Bluffton to put Trine up 2-1.
The Beavers were unable to respond in the fifth, but in the top of the sixth, Evan Houseman (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) cracked a ground-rule double left center, that tied it up at 2-2. The momentum continued into the seventh when Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) plated Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg, Ohio / Triad) to put Bluffton up 3-2. Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) followed that up with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Trey Pipenger (Richmond, Ind.) and giving the Beavers a 4-2 lead after seven innings.
Following a three up, three down eighth inning for the Thunder, they would get some momentum in the bottom of the ninth. After a walk and back-to-back hit batters, a Bluffton fielding error would bring a run home to cut the lead to 4-3. Then with bases loaded, a single down the left field line sent the tying run and the game-winning run across the dish, giving Trine a stunning 5-4 victory over the Beavers.
Five different Bluffton players would secure hits in the contest with Houseman spanking a double. Jake Baumgartner and Jack Towell would each drive in runs while Trey Pipinger drew two walks on the day. Bluffton struggled to drive runs in, leaving seven runners on base.
Starting the day on the hill was freshman Colton Murfield (North Lewisburg/Triad) who allowed only one earned run, while giving up seven hits and three walks. Murfield fanned four batters in six innings of work. Taking the loss was senior Andrew Collinsworth (Westerville/Westerville South) who went 1.2 innings, allowing three unearned runs with a walk and a strikeout. The Beaver pitching staff allowed only one earned run with a combined seven strikeouts, four walks, and five hit batters.
Bluffton will kick right back into action on Thursday, March 5, when they go up against Clark University in Auburndale, Fla. at 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
