NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - Manchester snapped Bluffton's seven-game Heartland Conference winning streak with a sweep of the Beavers on a hot Saturday, April 15, 2023. Bluffton fell to 14-10 overall and 8-3 in the Heartland Conference, while Manchester improved to 15-12 and 6-4 in the HCAC.

Manchester jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead with three runs in the first and two more in the second before a Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) RBI single got the Beavers on the board in the top of the third frame.

A three-run fourth pulled Bluffton within two runs (6-4) when Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) and Maurer sandwiched sacrifice flies around an RBI single by Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont). Baumgartner was back in the action an inning later when his three-run bomb put Bluffton up 8-6.

The home team regained the lead (9-8) with three scores in the sixth. Maurer knotted it up at 9-9 with a solo shot in the seventh and Baumgartner made it 10-10 with a singlu up the middle that plated Grant Hovest (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) in the eighth, but a wind-aided Manchester homer in the bottom of the ninth sent the Spartans to an 11-10 walkoff victory in game one.

Baumgartner and Maurer both had monster games in the lidlifter. Bummy was 3-of-5 with five RBI and two runs scored. Maurer went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Towell chipped in with three safeties. Hovest scored three times while senior backstop Adam Yoh (Milford) was 2-of-3 with two runs scored.

Senior Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) eight runs on 12 hits with three walks in 5.1 innings of work but he did not factor in the decision. Sophomore Jake Shaver (New London) fell to 1-2 after giving up the Manchester dinger in the ninth.

The Spartans built another 5-0 lead in game two, this time over the first six innings. Maurer broke up the shutout with his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to left, but Manchester tacked on a pair of response runs in the eighth en route to the 7-2 victory.

Maurer went 2-of-4 with two RBI in game two and he finished with five hits and two homers on Saturday.

Andrew Collinsworth (Westerville/Westerville South) slipped to 1-1 after allowing five runs on eight hits over six innings. He fanned four and walked just one.

Game three has been pushed back to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 16, at Manchester University.

-BEAVERS-