HANOVER, Ind. - The Bluffton University softball team came up on the short end of a pair of Heartland Conference contests at Hanover College on Sunday, April 25, 2021. The Panthers took game one 5-4 and then they rallied to finish the sweep with a 5-3 victory in the nightcap.

The Beavers trailed 4-0 in game one when sophomore Marissa Auvil (Canton/North Canton Hoover) ripped a two-run triple to right field that plated pinch runner Bryn Cisco (Lancaster/Fairfield Union) and Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County), cutting the deficit in half.

Lily Tate's (Mount Gilead/Northmor) first collegiate homer knotted the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh as she drove in pinch runner Sammi Urban (Troy/Miami East), but an RBI single by the Panthers in the home half ended game one with Hanover on the winning side of the ledger, 5-4.

Auvil and Tate both drove in two runs for the Beavers. Sophomore Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) took the loss after allowing five runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work. She struck out one and walked four.

The visitors went up 3-1 in the top of the third when sophomore standout Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) singled home Tate and Riley Langstaff (Findlay) before a double from fellow Findlay High School alum Taylor Steinke (Findlay) plated senior Sydney Bowen (Convoy/Crestview). However, a three-spot on the other side of the book in the home half propelled Hanover to a 5-3 victory and series sweep of the Beavers.

Bowen and Adams both smacked two hits in game two with Adams driving in a pair of runs. Senior Katie McCord (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits in a six-inning, complete-game effort. Ste struck out two and walked two.

Bluffton will be back on the road Wednesday for a twin-bill at rival Defiance College. Game one is slated for 3:30 p.m. in the land of the Yellow Jackets.

-BEAVERS-