RICHMOND, Ind. - The Bluffton University baseball team went to Earlham on April 15 and had a really Good Friday! Bluffton downed the Quakers, 11-6 and 9-3, en route to their first season sweep of Earlham since 2014. The Beavers improved to 11-14 overall and 4-4 in the Heartland Conference, while Earlham fell to 18-8 and 7-3 in the HCAC.
Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) got the Beavers on the scoreboard in the second inning when his double to left plated Grant Hovest (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf). An inning the later, the visitors went up for good following three Bluffton tallies. Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) doubled home Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) and Nick Diana (Batavia/West Clermont) before Brandon Wilson (Casstown/Miami East) made it 4-3 with a triple to right that drove in Baumgartner.
Baumgartner laced an RBI single in the fourth and Wilson crossed the dish following an Earlham error in the fifth, making it 6-3 in favor of the good guys.
Wilson continued his torching of the Quaker pitching with a two-run single to center in the sixth before the Beavers blew it open with three scores in the top of the ninth. Adam Yoh (Milford), Diana and Baumgartner all drove in runs that proved crucial as Earlham made its last stand with two tallies in the home half.
Baumgartner went 3-of-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Wilson finished 3-of-5 with three RBI. O'Reilly, Hovest, Maurer and Diana all chipped in with two hits during game one. Hovest, O'Reilly and Maurer scored twice in the 11-6 Bluffton victory.
Carson Curnutte (Hilliard/Hilliard-Davidson) improved to 2-3 after a six-inning, six-strikeout performance. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks. Eddie Budinski (Louisville) tossed 2.2 innings of two-run relief and Darius Boeke (Sidney) fired the last out in game one.
O'Reilly helped his cause with a leadoff homer in game two! Baumgartner followed with a triple to center and he crossed the dish thanks to a passed ball, putting Bluffton up 2-0 in the first.
The second homer by O'Reilly in as many innings made it 4-0 as he drove in Diana who led off the second with a double. Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) pushed the lead to 5-0 when he went yard to kick off inning number three.
With the bases juiced in the top of the ninth, O'Reilly drove in his fourth run of the day when he was hit by a pitch. Baumgartner followed with a sacrifice fly to center that picked up Yoh for a 7-1 lead. Towell's base hit up the middle sent O'Reilly and pinch runner Seth Altman (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) across the dish for a 9-1 lead.
Back-to-back sacrifice flys in the home half added up to a pair of unearned runs for the Quakers, but Seth Evans (Ada/OSU-Lima) got three straight fly balls to end the game as Bluffton completed the sweep with a 9-3 victory over HCAC-leading Earlham.
O'Reilly went 2-of-4 with two dingers and four RBI, while Towell was 2-of-5 with three RBI. Diana and Yoh both added two safeties with Diana scoring two runs.
Showing his versatility, O'Reilly went eight outstanding innings and allowed only one run in his final frame. He fanned seven and did not walk a batter while scattering five hits.
Bluffton returns to action with a pair of seven-inning games against Albion College on Monday, April 18. Game one is slated for 2 p.m. at Memorial Field.
-BEAVERS-