April 6, 2008
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball completed its second Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference road sweep in as many days with a pair of victories at Mt. St. Joseph on Sunday, April 6, 2008. The Beavers improved to 14-12 overall and 4-2 in the HCAC, while MSJ fell to 4-12 with a 2-2 HCAC mark, including a sweep of pre-season conference favorite Anderson a week ago.
Bluffton 4, Mt. St. Joseph 2
The Beavers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when HCAC Hitter of the Month LINDSEY MILLER (Wapakoneta/Wapakoneta) smoked a leadoff home run.
In the bottom of the third, Mt. St. Joseph took a 2-1 lead when the Lions put together two singles and a DOWNEY triple.
Faced with the same situation as they were in the second game at Transy on Saturday, the Beavers again came through in the top of the seventh. Miller parked her second dinger of the game to open the frame. BROOKE BABCOCK (Findlay/Findlay) followed with a two-bagger and she scored when KELLIE KENNEY (Toledo/Emmanuel Baptist) laced a single. AMANDA HARRIS (Arcanum/Arcanum) drew a free pass and moved to second on a KAYLA WILLIAMS(Elida/Elida) base knock. Freshman MOLLIE BROWN (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) came through with an RBI single which gave the Beavers a 4-2 lead.
Babcock improved to 7-9 with her third victory in two days. She gave up only two runs on seven hits during the complete game win. The sophomore finished with four strikeouts and no walks.
Lindsey Miller paced the Beavers with two solo homers in three trips to the plate. Kenney and Babcock both collected two hits in the opening game victory.
Bluffton 9, Mt. St. Joseph 1 (6 innings)
Bluffton picked up right where it left off in the first inning of game two. Brown and TIFFANY BUCKMASTER (Lima/Bath) walked to start the game before a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position for JAYME MARBAUGH (Ohio City/Parkway) who reached on a fielder's choice that plated Brown. Buckmaster scored on a Babcock single. Another wild pitch allowed Babcock to cross the plate for a 3-0 lead midway through the opening frame.
Marbaugh and Brown sandwiched doubles around a Tiffany Buckmaster lineout in the second inning for a 4-0 Bluffton lead.
Following walks to ABBY SNIDER (Wapakoneta/Wapakoneta) and Amanda Harris and a Kenney sacrifice, TORRIE WILSON (Delphos/Jefferson) delivered a run-scoring single. Mollie Brown's double picked up Harris and Wilson before Brown was cut down going to third, but not before Bluffton opened up a 7-0 advantage in the third inning.
The Beavers used a Lion error in the top of the sixth to push two more runs across the plate. Wilson scored when Marbaugh reached on the misplay and Miller made it 9-0 with her sacrifice fly to left field which sent Buckmaster home. Miller's RBI was number 34 for the season, breaking the ten-year old record of 33 held by Marlys Olson since 1997.
MSJ took advantage of a Bluffton error in the bottom of the sixth to score a lone run, but Kenney got ASHLEIGH STALLKAMP to fly out and CAMMERER to ground out to end the game after just six innings.
Kenney upped her record to 7-3 with the complete game four-hitter. She limited MSJ to just one unearned run and walked only one batter.
Brown and Wilson both notched multiple hits for the Beavers. Brown, Buckmaster and Wilson all scored two runs in the second game victory. Jayme Marbaugh paced the victors with three RBI while Brown drove in a pair of runs.
The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, April 9, when they host Manchester College, which picked up a split with HCAC-leading Rose-Hulman over the weekend, in a crucial HCAC series. The first game is scheduled for 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-