May 1, 2009
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - The Bluffton University softball team saw its 2009 season slipping away before scoring six unanswered runs to stun Anderson 6-5 at the HCAC tournament on May 1. The Beavers scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth before Bluffton knocked the Ravens out with a CHELSIE OSBORNE (Chillicothe/Waverly) RBI single in the eighth inning. Defiance scored 11 unanswered in Bluffton's first game of the tourney to secure the 12-4 victory before the Yellow Jackets handed regular-season champion Transylvania a 5-4 setback in the final game of the day.
DEFIANCE 12, BLUFFTON 4
Defiance went up 1-0 with a TASHA STUCKE run-producing single in the top of the first. AMANDA AUZINS opened the game with a double down the left field line and she went to third on AARIKA DAVIS' sacrifice bunt before Stucke came through with her base knock.
The Beavers quickly knotted the contest in the home half of the first. Following a two-out walk to JAYME MARBAUGH (Ohio City/Parkway), LINDSEY MILLER (Wapakoneta) and BROOKE BABCOCK (Findlay) connected with back-to-back singles which made the score 1-1.
After Marbaugh gave Bluffton a 2-1 lead with a solo homer to left in the third inning, the Beavers opened up a three-run cushion with a pair of scores in the fourth. Again the rally started with two down. EMILY MANAHAN (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) drew a free pass and went to second when fellow freshman JESSICA MCDONALD (Mechanicsburg) singled to center. A DANIELLE SHORTSLE (Alma, Mich./Alma) drive to right that just missed going out of the park went for a two-RBI two bagger off the fence.
The Yellow Jackets refused to fold and back-to-back jacks by CRAGER and LIETO to open the fifth put a charge into Defiance. A Bluffton error, a fielder's choice and walk to Stucke loaded the bases. One out later, MARAH ROBINSON delivered a three-run double which proved to be the difference. MALLORY FALING'S single up the middle plated Robinson for a 7-4 Defiance lead.
SCHNIPKE, who had the Beavers' number a month ago in the regular season contest at Bluffton, worked three perfect frames while Defiance tacked on five more runs for a 12-4 win in Bluffton's first game of the tournament.
Danielle Shortsle drove in two runs and Jayme Marbaugh scored twice in loss. Brooke Babcock fell to 14-7 on the season after giving up seven runs, three earned, on six hits in 4.2 innings of work.
BLUFFTON 6, ANDERSON 5 (8 INNINGS)
Following three scoreless innings to open Bluffton's game against Anderson, the Ravens pounded out five hits and scored four times in the fourth. Consecutive singles and a sacrifice bunt put runners in scoring position for starting pitcher GRETCHEN LOUZON who laced an RBI single up the middle. SMITH'S double through the right side scored HAINES before a KRUSE double made it 4-0.
Anderson added a run in the fifth to make it 5-0, but the Beavers started to show signs of life in the home half of the inning. TIFFANY BUCKMASTER (Lima/Bath) took advantage of a dropped fly by the Ravens leading off the fifth. Jayme Marbaugh's triple to right field made the score 5-1 and she crossed the plate on Lindsey Miller's ground ball to shortstop.
Agauas worked around a walk in the sixth and the Beavers responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. KELLIE KENNEY (Toledo/Emmanuel Baptist) doubled to left and she moved to third on a Manahan base knock. Shortsle again came up big with an RBI single to left field. In a play that helped Bluffton maintain its momentum, Buckmaster's bunt to third loaded the bases when the Ravens failed to record an out. Marbaugh knotted the score at five with a single to center which plated Shortsle and pinch runner ALLISON WHITE (Lima/Shawnee).
Babcock induced an inning-ending twin-killing in the top of the seventh and she set the Ravens down in order in the eighth, giving the Beavers a chance to complete the stunning comeback. Shortsle led off the bottom of the eighth by drawing a free pass. Buckmaster reached on an infield single with one out and Chelsie Osborne sent the Beavers into Saturday with her game-winning single down the left field line.
Marbaugh paced the Beavers with three hits and three RBI. Osborne, Manahan and Kenney all chipped in with two hits while Shortsle scored two runs. Babcock (15-7) worked the final two frames to earn the victory. Kenney pitched the first four innings and KRISTIN AGAUAS(Bloomfield, Mich./Andover) fanned four in two innings of relief.
Bluffton returns to action on Saturday, May 2, when the Beavers face tournament host Transylvania for the right to play Defiance. The first contest of the day is slated for 11 a.m.
-BEAVERS-