RICHMOND, Ind. - The Bluffton University softball team stunned host Earlham College with a 3-2 eight-inning victory in the lidlifter on a beautiful Saturday, April 26, 2025. Bluffton moved to 13-23 overall and 3-13 in the Heartland Conference, while the Quakers stand 21-11 and 8-4 in HCAC play.
It looked like game one had shootout written all over it in the first inning as the Beavers plated one and the home team responded with a two-run homer to center, but that was just a mirage as Earlham never scored again. Bluffton plated it's run when senior Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) followed Reagen O'Brien's (Bellbrook) two-bagger with an RBI single to left.
The only other score in regulation came two frames later on an RBI ground ball from junior Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) who picked up freshman Tianna Galbraith (Wayne/Elmwood), knotting the game at two runs apiece.
With the score still 2-2 after seven innings, the international tie-breaker came into play in the eighth. A Grant single moved ghost runner Reagen O'Brien to third, putting Beavers on the corners with no outs. McCartney got her squeeze bunt down, scoring O'Brien with the game-winning run as freshman Grace Gronberg (Danville) struck out the final two Quaker batters to secure the victory!
Gronberg struck out a career-high 12 batters while improving to 6-11 on the season. She walked four and allowed just four hits and two runs in her complete-game effort.
McCartney was the hero on the other side of the ledger, going 2-of-3 with three RBI, while O'Brien scored twice.
The Bluffton offense managed just two hits in game two and Earlham scored in four of six innings on the way to a 7-0 victory and series split.
Gronberg fell to 6-12 after allowing three runs on four hits in her second start of the day. Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) gave up four runs in three innings of relief, but any run the Quakers scored would have been enough as the Beavers went down without a whimper in game two.
Grant and Lewis reached safely for the visitors in the finale.
Bluffton will tie a bow on its 2025 campaign next Saturday, May 3, following graduation ceremonies in the Sommer Center. Game one against Franklin College is slated for 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-