By: Colton Steiner

RICHMOND, Ind. - After several days of heavy rain, the Bluffton Beavers were able to hit the field in Indiana to face off against the Earlham College Quakers. The bats would get hot early as the Beavers would roll to a 6-1 victory in game one, but a late comeback from the Quakers in game two gave the hosts a 4-3 walkoff win. The split puts the Beavers at 5-17 on the season with a 3-6 mark in the HCAC, while Earlham sits at 11-12 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

Bluffton would score first when Brandon North (Hilliard/Bradley) knocked a single to center which scored Brody Hammersley (Coshocton) in the top of the second. The visitors added a second run in the inning after Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg/Triad) crossed home plate off a hit from Drew Snipes (Pickerington/North).

Leading 2-0, an Ethan Moore (Bellefontaine) RBI single in the third and then a Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) RBI base hit in the fourth put them ahead 4-0. Despite allowing a run in the bottom of the sixth, Ethan Moore was hit by a pitch in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded to put Bluffton ahead 5-1. They would add another run off a sacrifice fly from Drew Snipes brought home Ayden Spriggs for a 6-1 advantage. The lead was too much for the Quakers as the visitors would come away with a 6-1 win in the first game of the day.

The bats were scorching hot for the Beavers in the first outing as they pounded out 14 hits as a team. Brody Hammersley would have a great day at the plate, going 4-for-5 while scoring a pair of runs. Ayden Spriggs would also score twice to go along with his three hits, while Drew Snipes and Brandon North each went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Picking up the win on the mound was Riley Reyna (Wellington) who improved to 1-2 on the season after going 7.0 innings and allowing only one run off three hits to go along with four strikeouts. Andrew Collinsworth (Westerville/Westerville South) fanned three batters and only allowed one hit in 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.

The momentum for Bluffton would continue to start game two as they got on the board in the top of the first after a towering double from Jack Towell scored Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start), putting the Beavers up 1-0. They added a second run in the top of the second when Jake McCoy (Milford) hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Zane Sarcheck (Sunbury/Big Walnut).

Earlham cut the Beaver lead to one in the third frame. After four innings of scoreless baseball, Bluffton would add a run in the top of the eigth as Colton Rinehart (Richmond, Ind./Centerville) singled home Tyler Forest (Harrison/LaSalle). In the bottom of the inning, the Quakers found their stride with back-to-back runs which evened up the game at three apiece. The Beavers were unable to score in the top of ninth and the momentum was still in the Quakers back pocket as they would bring home the game-winning run with a one-run single to knock off Bluffton by a 4-3 count.

Bluffton would total 10 hits with Jack Towell going 2-for-5 with an RBI. Freshman Trey Pipenger (Richmond, Ind.) added two hits in the nightcap. Six other batters for Bluffton picked up a hit while Colton Rinehart and Jake McCoy would each add an RBI for the Bevers.

Senior Nathan Young (Copley) went eight innings and allowed three runs, two earned, off seven hits while picking up four striketouts, but he did not factor in the decision. Wyatt Groves (Marengo/Highland) fell to 0-4 on the season after allowing a run in the bottom of the ninth.

The Beavers will close out the series against the Quakers on Monday, April 7, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.

-BEAVERS-