BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team split a pair of Heartland Conference contests with visiting Manchester University on a hot Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The Beavers moved to 5-13 overall and 2-2 in HCAC, while Manchester improved to 3-13 and 1-3 in the HCAC.
Bluffton fell behind 5-0 midway through the fifth thanks to four straight scoreless frames to open the game. However, one inning was all it took for the Beavers to put enough tally marks on the scoreboard to cash in with a victory.
Following three straight singles to open the home half of the fifth, Manchester was unwilling to give Spartan-nemesis Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) anything to wave at as her bases-loaded walk pushed Taylor Shimp (St. Marys/Memorial) across the dish for Bluffton's first run of the game. Another free pass to senior Sydney Bowen (Convoy/Crestview) made it 5-2 before Lily Tate (Mount Gilead/Northmor) unloaded the bases with her three-run double to the wall in right center. Riley Langstaff (Findlay) put Bluffton up 6-5 with her infield single to shortstop and the Beavers had all they needed for a 6-5 victory in game one.
Sophomore Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) improved to 2-3 on the season following her five innings of work. She allowed five runs, but just one earned, on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Junior Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) tossed two shutout frames for her first save of the season.
Tate and Norman both smacked two hits in game one with Tate delivering three crucial RBI in the home half of the fifth inning.
A Bluffton run in the first and another in the second had the Beavers tied, but the Spartans pulled away with two scores in the third, two in the fourth and another in the fifth as the visitors opened a 7-2 lead over Bluffton. Langstaff picked up Bowen with her ground ball in the seventh and Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) crossed the dish following Manchester's second error of the inning, but it wasn't enough as the Beavers dropped game two by a 7-4 count.
Katie McCord (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Lawrenceburg) fell to 2-5 on the season after allowing four runs on seven hits in three innings on the bump. Norman tossed 2.2 shutout frames to keep Bluffton within striking distance, fanning four Spartans and allowing just three hits in the nightcap.
Adams continued her torrid hitting against the Spartans, going 3-of-4 with a run scored after drawing two walks in game one.
Bluffton will travel to Case Western Reserve on Saturday, April 10, for a pair of non-league games with another group of Spartans. Game one is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
