WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team spilt a pair of games for the fourth straight time on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. The Beavers slammed their way past Bridgewater, 5-2, after dropping a 9-5 decision to Simmons. Bluffton stands 4-4 on the season heading into the final day from Florida.
A Grace Gronberg (Danville) sacrifice fly picked up Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) for a short-lived 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The bottom half saw Simmons from Boston pile up five runs courtesy of two hits, three walks, a hit batter and a pair of errors.
Simmons added another score in the second before Riley Hammonds (Russia) drove home Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) with a double to left center.
Trailing 8-2 going to the sixth, the Beavers cut their deficit in half with three tallies. Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) doubled home Hammonds and she came around thanks to a Simmons miscue. Gromberg drew a bases loaded walk, making the score 8-5. The home team on the scoreboard tacked on an insurance run in the sixth for a 9-5 victory in game one.
Hampton continued her hot hitting, going 3-of-5 with two runs scored. Hammonds was 2-for-3 and Gronberg drove in two runs.
Gronberg fell to 2-3 after allowing six runs on two hits with four walks. Lewis came on in relief and held Simmons to three runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings of work.
Bridgewater put two runs up in the top of the third, but the Beavers responded with force in the home half. One-out singles by Hampton and Ella McCombs (Springfield/Southeastern) followed by a walk to McCartney loaded the bases for Hammonds who lifted a sacrifice fly to left. A free pass to Lewis set the stage for Gronberg and she delivered a grand slam for her first collegiate homer!
Sophomore Colleen Meese (Rocky River) made those runs hold up as she tossed her first complete game, allowing just two runs on five hits with three walks. Meese threw 100 pitches and popped the Eagles up nine times on Wednesday. It was her second outstanding performance in as many appearances.
Gronberg did the damage, going 2-of-3 with a double and a bases-loaded round-tripper.
Bluffton will tie a bow on its Florida experience with two more games on Thursday, March 6. The Beavers take on Pitt-Greensburg at 11:30 a.m. and Marian at approximately 2 p.m.
-BEAVERS-