By Ethan Stearns and Tyson Speyer
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Bluffton University baseball team split two games of a doubleheader with Rockford University on Monday, March 6, 2023, losing the first matchup by one (7-6) and dominating the second, 12-4, for their first win of the season, The Beavers moved to 1-2 on the season thus far and Rockford stands 2-2.
After being down 1-0 after four innings, Bluffton got the offense going in the fifth, driving in five runs in the bottom half of the frame! Freshman Kaden Bowman (Hilliard/Davidson) fired off a two-run double to get things going, bringing in Austin Francis (Troy/Miami East) and Seth Altman (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson).
Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) stepped up and brought in two scores of his own with a base knock that plated Nick Diana (Batavia/West Clermont) and Bowman while moving Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) to third. Baumgartner crossed the dish when Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that made the score 5-1 going into the sixth.
Bluffton would score their sixth and final run of the game in the sixth inning as Bowman added another RBI to his stat sheet with base knock that scored Eddie Hardaway (Englewood/Northmont).
Rockford had a wild comeback in the seventh inning, going off for six runs in their half while walking away with the 7-6 victory after seven innings of action.
Bowman and Towell had the hot bats in the first game, combining for four hits and five RBIs. Maurer added the final RBI. Carson Curnutte (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) pitched five innings, tossing six strikeouts and only allowing one run. Grant Hovest (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) and Sean Brock (Wauseon) allowed six runs with Brock moving to 0-1.
The second matchup with Rockford ended in a Beaver victory as they got as hot as the Florida weather in their 12-4 shellacking. The scoring came throughout the game as they plated runs in every inning except the first, third and ninth.
Baumgartner led the Beavers with three hits and he knocked two runs in. Towell and Bowman also drove in two apiece while Hovest plated three.
Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) kicked his season off with a victory, tossing six innings while giving up just one run with four strikeouts.
The Beavers will look to pick up another win and keep their hot bats rolling when they battle Alvernia on Tuesday, March 7, at 12 p.m. in Fort Myers.
-BEAVERS-