WINCHESTER, Ky. - The Bluffton University softball team ran into a buzzsaw on Saturday, April 13, as Transylvania rolled to a pair of mercy-rule victories over the Beavers. Bluffton fell to 6-22 overall and 0-6 in the Heartland Conference. The Pioneers upped their mark to 17-6 with a perfect 6-0 record in HCAC play.

Transy smashed four home runs in the first two innings of game one en route to a 12-0 lead over the visitors. Riley Hammonds (Russia) laced a fourth-inning single and Hailey Lennard (North Baltimore) notched a base hit in the fifth, but the Pioneers finished off game one with a 13-0 victory in five innings.

Senior Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) fell to 2-11 after allowing 10 runs on 10 hits in one inning of work. Freshman Colleen Meese (Rocky River) limited the HCAC heavyweights to three runs over three innings in her first pitching appearance of the season.

The Pioneers built a 19-0 lead after four innings before Bluffton broke through with its only run of the day. Following a two-out double to left from Julia Tegeder (Hamilton), junior Lindsey Barnes (Van Wert/Crestview) stepped to the dish for the first time this season and delivered with an RBI single to right!

Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) slipped to 1-8 after giving up 10 runs on 15 hits in three innings for the Beavers.

Bluffton heads to North Manchester, Ind., for a double-dipper with Manchester University on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Game one is slated for 3:30 p.m.

-BEAVERS-