OBERLIN, Ohio - Bluffton trailed 6-0 in game one and 3-0 in game two, both in the first inning, but the Beavers came storming back to sweep the twin-bill at Oberlin College, including a mercy-rule victory in the nightcap on Tuesday, March 29. Bluffton improved to 6-8 and the Beavers have equaled their win total from a season ago after just 14 games!
Oberlin rolled off six runs on six hits in the bottom of the first, knocking game one starter Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) out of the circle before the dust settled, but the Beavers bounced right back with four runs of their own in the top of the second. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Lily Tate (Mount Gilead/Northmor) and Sydney Zinkon (Fresno/Ridgewood) following a run-scoring single by Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) made it 6-4 after just an inning and a half.
Freshman Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) knotted it up at six apiece in the fourth when her single up the gut plated Zinkon and Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) before another four-run explosion in the fifth put Bluffton up 10-6. Tate delivered a two-run base hit and Adams came through with a bases-loaded squeeze and the rout was on!
Adams and Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) picked up Madison Jones (West Milton/Milton Union) and Kayleigh Michael (Eaton/National Trail) in the seventh en route to an improbable 12-7 victory in the lidlifter!
Zinkon and Dales both smacked three hits in game one. Tate, Adams and Lewis chipped in with two apiece. Tate, Zinkon and Lewis all scored twice, while Tate led the visitors with three RBI. Adams and McCartney both drove in two runs.
Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) was outstanding in 6.2 innings of one-run relief. She allowed five hits and issued just one free pass while improving to 2-5 on the season.
Much like the opener, Bluffton fell behind 3-0 in the first before the sleeping giant woke up in the top of the third. A walk to Jones with the sacks full made it 3-1, but the fun was just beginning as Adams powered the Beavers to a 5-3 lead with her first homer of the season, a bases-clearing grand salami! Six more tallies an inning later put the Beavers on the precipice of a five-inning nightcap.
Jones got it done with a two-run single, Adams followed with an RBI double and Lewis smashed a two-bagger to left that plated McCartney and Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) for an 11-3 advantage going to the bottom of the fourth.
A Jones triple in the fifth followed by yet another Adams RBI pushed the score to 13-3 and Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) did the rest as she worked 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for her first win of the season. Fleshman allowed just three hits with four strikeouts and two walks after entering the game in inning number one.
Adams and Jones were nearly unstoppable at the plate. Adams went 3-of-4 with six RBI, including her grand slam. Jones was 3-of-3 with four RBI and three runs scored. Zinkon and Rutledge added two safeties, while Lewis drove in a pair of runs. Zinkon and Bryn Cisco (Lancaster/Fairfield Union) both scored twice.
Bluffton jumps right back into action on Wednesday, March 30, when the Beavers host Kalamazoo for a pair of non-league games. The first pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-