March 11, 2010

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - In a game that spanned six hours, two diamonds separated by 40 minutes and eight innings, #5 Coe College escaped with a 4-2 victory over Bluffton University on a rainy Thursday, March 11, 2010. The Beavers fell to 1-6 on the season with their strongest performance to date, while the Kohawks improved to 6-3.

Freshman STEVIE CUTTITTA (Columbiaville, Mich./Clio) worked around three baserunners for a scoreless first inning before Coe took advantage of an EMILY PANYARD RBI double in the bottom of the second. Bluffton made it 1-1 in the fourth when BROOKE BABCOCK (Findlay) singled home KIRSTEN STOPHER (Archbold) following JAYME MARBAUGH'S (Ohio City/Parkway) double over the center fielder's head.

Another Panyard RBI in the bottom of the fourth made the score 2-1. SHELBY WADE(Delaware/Buckeye Valley) pounded her second two-bagger of the game down the left field line to start the fifth inning. She moved to third on TORRIE WILSON'S(Delphos/Jefferson) grounder to shortstop and then executed a double steal with Wilson that tied the game at two.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, the game was halted indefinitely due to a downpour that made the field unplayable and it appeared that it would end in a 2-2 tie. An hour later the game was moved to OCSC and at 2:30 p.m., both teams took the field to finish the contest. Both teams struggled to mount an offense in the seventh, forcing the game into extra innings. Another shower halted play before Coe's CC WILLIAMS pounded a one-out two-run walkoff homer to left, capping a 4-2 victory for the Kohawks.

Wade finished with two doubles and Babcock drove in a run. Stevie Cuttitta allowed two runs on seven hits in four innings of work. Babcock tossed the final 3.1 innings and recorded six strikeouts with no walks.

Bluffton's contest with Albion scheduled for today has been canceled. The Beavers are slated to play Wittenberg at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 12.

-BEAVERS-