BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team dropped a 10-8 decision in game one but came roaring back for a 13-3 victory in game two with the Hanover College Panthers in town on a beautiful Saturday, April 23, 2022. Bluffton moved to 13-16 overall and 6-6 in the Heartland Conference, while Hanover stayed a tick better at 13-15 and 7-5 in the HCAC.
Bluffton took a 3-0 lead in the third when Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) singled in Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) and Kenny Schneider (Sunbury/Big Walnut) reminded everyone he was back in town with a two-run triple.
The Panthers turned it around with three scores in the fourth and three more in the fifth before Ezra Deitering (Ottawa/Miller City) and O'Reilly crossed the dish to make it 6-5 Hanover heading to the sixth.
The visitors led 8-5 midway through the eighth when a dropped fly ball and a Deitering bunt single got the Beavers within a run at 8-7. Hanover added two more insurance runs that proved critical when Bluffton scored on a wild pitch in the final frame as the Beavers fell, 10-8, in game one.
O'Reilly and Towell both went 2-of-5. Towell and Schneider drove in two runs apiece, while O'Reilly scored twice in the opener.
Carson Curnutte (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) fell to 2-4 after allowing six runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked two. Spencer Garrison (West Salem/Northwestern) set down two Panthers and Darius Boeke (Sidney) added one strikeout.
Bluffton went up 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth without the benefit of a hit or an error. Two walks, five hit batters and three wild pitches gave the Beavers a comfortable lead going to the fifth inning when the wheels all fell off for Hanover as Bluffton pasted eight runs on the scoreboard for a 13-0 advantage. Deitering delivered the knockout punch with a three-run bomb to left for his first collegiate homer! Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) followed a Schneider triple with a run-scoring single and the rout was on.
O'Reilly improved to 3-2 after limiting the Panthers to two runs on seven hits in six innings on the bump. He struck out five in the winning effort. Seth Evans (OSU-Lima/Ada) finished with two strikeouts in two innings, while Wayne Frey (Kirby/Riverdale) fanned three Panthers in the ninth.
Deitering drove in three runs for the victors. Schneider, O'Reilly, Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) and Nathaniel DeWeese (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) all scored twice in the nightcap.
Bluffton will jump right back into action on Sunday, April 24, when the Beavers host Albion College for a pair of non-league contests, both of the seven-inning variety. Game one is slated for 1 p.m. at Memorial Field.
-BEAVERS-
