BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team pounded out 23 hits in a pair of wins over Anderson University on a chilly Wednesday, April 20, 2022. It marked the first Bluffton sweep of the Ravens since 2008! The Beavers improved to 12-18 overall and 4-6 in the Heartland Conference, while AU slipped to 5-21 with a 2-10 mark in the HCAC.
Anderson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one thanks to three straight free passes to open the first inning. But eight unanswered Bluffton tallies over the next four innings made it 8-4 in favor of the home team. Back-to-back doubles by Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) and Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) got the party started in the second before Lily Tate (Mount Gilead/Northmor) and Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) kept it rollicking with RBI singles for the Beavers.
Another Norman two-bagger in the third gave Bluffton its first lead of the game at 5-4. Tate drove in Sammi Urban (Troy/Miami East) and Madison Jones (West Milton/Milton Union) delivered a two-run double down the left field line that made it 8-4.
Anderson pulled within 8-6 in the top of the sixth, but two walks and a hit batter with the sacks full in the bottom of the frame followed by a sacrifice fly from Jones and an RBI single by Adams nearly ended it an inning early. The Ravens scored twice in the seventh before Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) slammed the door on Bluffton's 13-8 victory in the lidlifter.
Rutledge and Adams both cracked three hits, while Norman, Jones and Tate all drove in three runs for the home team. Rutledge and Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) both scored three times in game one.
Norman was outstanding in relief after being called on in the first inning with no outs. She allowed three runs, two earned, on nine hits in six innings of work. The junior struck out three and picked up her first of two wins on the day.
Bluffton scored three times in the first and three more in the third en route to a 6-1 lead over Anderson in game two. Urban walked with the bases loaded in the first and Dales followed with a two-run single to center. Tate cleared the bases with a three-run double to left two innings later.
A three-run bomb by pinch hitter Paige Wickard in the fourth made it 6-4, but the Beavers added a two important insurance runs in the fifth when Tate picked up Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) with a base knock and Hannah 'The Wall' Walters (Beavercreek) crossed the dish following an Anderson error.
Tate was 2-of-4 with four runs batted in. Adams and Sydney Zinkon (Fresno/Ridgewood) chipped in with two hits apiece and eight different Beavers scored in game two.
Norman worked three innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits with three walks while improving to 6-8. Fillinger allowed four runs in 3.1 innings but did not factor in the decision. Katie Fleshman (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) recorded the final two outs for her second save of the season.
Bluffton will look to keep it rolling when the Beavers welcome Hanover College to Allen County for Senior Day on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Game one is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
-BEAVERS-
