March 5, 2009
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team received a pair of dominating pitching performances in improving to 7-1 on the season. The Beavers handled Clarke College 8-1 in the lidlifter, and they finished the afternoon with a 5-2 victory over the College of St. Benedict on Thursday, March 5, 2009.
BLUFFTON 8, CLARKE 1
The Beavers put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first when sophomore TORRIE WILSON (Delphos/Jefferson) led off with a single. She went to second on a CHELSIE OSBORN (Chillicothe/Waverly) sacrifice bunt and moved to third following a passed ball.JAYME MARBAUGH (Ohio City/Parkway) made it 1-0 with her RBI single up the middle.
While junior hurler BROOKE BABCOCK (Findlay) was mowing down the Clarke hitters, Bluffton took advantage of five hits with three scores in the bottom of the third. Osborn opened the inning with a base hit to right center. Miller followed with a single to left center and one out later, freshman EMILY MANAHAN (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) singled home Osborn. KELLIE KENNEY'S (Toledo/Emmanuel Christian) RBI single plated Miller and DANIELLE SHORTSLE (Alma, Mich./Alma) ended the outburst with a base hit to right center which picked up Manahan.
Kenney drove home TIFFANY BUCKMASTER (Lima/Bath) with a sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the fifth before Clarke answered with its only run of the game in the sixth. A dropped popup following COLLEEN DANSART'S double allowed Clarke to put an unearned run on the scoreboard.
Bluffton put the contest on ice with three more runs in the home half of the inning. ALLISON WHITE (Lima/Shawnee) and Torrie Wilson opened with singles and Osborn's fielder's choice to second put runners on the corners. Lindsey Miller's fourth dinger of the Rebel Spring Games made the score 8-1 heading to the seventh. Babcock shut down the Crusaders in the final frame to secure her fourth win of the season.
Miller was a perfect 4-of-4 at the plate with 3 RBI and two runs scored, including her three-run shot to left center in the sixth inning. Wilson finished with two hits and Osborn scored twice. Kenney added a pair of RBI. Babcock (4-0) was sensational in the circle, striking out eight batters, including five in a row. She gave up one unearned run on six hits with no walks.
BLUFFTON 5, ST. BENEDICT 2
The Beavers put together three runs on three hits in the bottom of the second, giving senior Kellie Kenney all of the run support she would need. She drew a base on balls and went to second on a Danielle Shortsle single to center. Wilson loaded the bases when the Blazers failed to record an out on her fielder's choice. Osborn's infield single plated both Shortsle and Buckmaster. Marbaugh followed with a run-scoring single to left field to make it 3-0.
Osborn singled home Buckmaster in the fourth and the Beavers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. With two outs Buckmaster walked and stole second. She raced home on Torrie Wilson's hit to left field.
A hit batter and two-run homer by ALYSSA KUBESH cut the deficit to three, but Kenney worked around a hit and a Bluffton error in the bottom of the seventh to nail down the 5-2 victory.
Osborn, who leads the Beavers with a .480 batting average, was 3-of-4 at the dish with three RBI. Wilson and Marbaugh both collected multiple hits in the victory and Buckmaster crossed the plate three times. Kenney improved to 3-0 with a four-hitter. She fanned four and walked just one while holding St. Benedict to two runs over seven innings.
Bluffton returns to action at on Friday, March 6, at 11 a.m. when the Beavers meet Husson from Bangor, Maine, in Bluffton's final day at the Rebel Spring Games.
-BEAVERS-