March 22, 2013
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team hosted one of the top teams in the NCAA Division III and found out the hard way that the Trine University Thunder are ranked #5 for a reason. Trine battered Bluffton with eight homers en route to a pair of five-inning shellackings. The visitors took game one 17-1 before capping the sweep with a 10-1 victory in the nightcap on Friday, March 22, 2013.
The Thunder scored five runs in the first inning of game one, while Bluffton got on the board when senior SHELBY WADE (Delaware/Buckeye Valley) doubled home sophomore ARIANA MUFFO (New Athens, Ill.), making the score 5-1. Trine added a tally in the second before going off for 11 runs over the next three innings as Bluffton came up on the wrong end of a 17-1 score.
Trine catcher SARAH BELOTE belted a pair of dingers and 2012 MIAA Most Valuable Player and Pitcher ANDI GASCO helped her cause with a home run and three RBI.
Muffo was the only Beaver with multiple hits as she went 2-of-2 with a run scored. Sophomore CHLOE SHELL (Covington) slipped to 4-4 after allowing 11 runs on 12 hits in 3.1 innings of work. She struck out two and walked four in the loss.
After holding Trine scoreless in the first inning of game two, the Beavers committed two errors in the second frame which allowed the Thunder to push seven unearned runs across the plate.
A NATALIE NIKITAS (Jeffersonville, Ind.) bomb to right field made the score 7-1 in the bottom of the frame, but Trine tacked on a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth for a 10-1 five-inning victory over the shellshocked home team.
Muffo finished the day 3-of-5 to lead the Bluffton offense. Junior KAYLA OWENS(Cincinnati/McAuley) took the loss after giving up 10 runs, just three earned, on 11 hits. She struck out two and walked four Trine hitters.
Bluffton will put Friday's games in the rearview mirror and quickly as the Beavers open Heartland Conference action on Saturday, March 23, when they welcome Transylvania University to Allen County for a pair of crucial contests. The lidlifter is slated for 2 p.m.
-BEAVERS-