BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team rallied twice for a sweep of Heidelberg University on a rainy Thursday, March 16, 2023. Both squads entered the fray with identical 5-5 records, but it was the Beavers who walked away 7-5 after a wild sweep of the Student Princes.
Bluffton trailed 2-0 when the home team came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Ashley Kloeker (Troy) cut the deficit in half when her single to center picked up Kayleigh Michael (Eaton/National Trail) who launched a one-out double to right.
Senior Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) smoked the equalizer an inning later when she smacked a moon shot to left center, making it 2-2.
The Beavers took their first lead of the game in the fifth. With the bases juiced, senior Sammi Urban (Troy/Miami East) broke the tie with her base knock to right center that picked up sophomore Mia McCartney (North Baltimore). Sydney Zinkon (Fresno/Ridgewood) pushed it to 5-2 when the senior ripped a two-bagger down the left field line!
The Student Princes bounced back with a four-run seventh, taking a 6-5 lead going to the bottom the frame. A leadoff double from Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) paid huge dividends when a Heidelberg wild pitch allowed her to cross the dish, sending the game to extra innings.
Again forced to play catch up after the visitors scored a run in the top of the inning, the Beavers were more than up to the task. McCartney's single to right drove home Kloeker and when Urban singled to left center with the bags full of Beavers that was all she wrote for the Student Princes as McCartney scored the game winner thanks to Urban's walk-off single!
Urban and Michael both laced three hits in game one. McCartney, Adams and Dales all chipped in with two hits apiece. Zinkon and Urban both drove in two runs, while McCartney and Dales scored two runs each.
Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) worked around four Bluffton errors, improving to 4-2 after allowing seven runs, but just three earned, on 11 hits in an eight-inning complete-game effort. She struck out one and did not issue any walks.
The Beavers dug a 4-0 hole midway through the third inning of game two courtesy of four unearned runs for Heidelberg. Again the Beavers would not go down without a fight as Adams smacked her second dinger of the day. Dales scored following a wild pitch and Kloeker plated Zinkon with a base knock to left center and just like that it was 4-3 going to the fourth inning.
Zinkon put the home team up for good an inning later with her single to right center that sent Kennedy Parker (Lima/Central Catholic) and Adams scurrying home for a 5-4 lead.
It was still 5-4 when Bluffton took its turn at the plate in the bottom of the sixth. A bases-loaded single by Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) got the party started. Urban followed with a double that clipped the third base bag and when McCartney doubled to left, the score was 10-4. Zinkon put the visitors out of their misery with a shot to right center that drove home pinch runner Kaylei Barnett (Wapakoneta) and McCartney for the 12-4 mercy-rule walkoff!
Zinkon was 3-of-5 with four RBI. Adams went 1-of-2 with her second homer of the night, two runs scored and three free passes. Urban drove in two runs for the Beavers.
Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) was outstanding, allowing just six hits and no earned runs in six innings of work. She walked only one batter while improving to 3-1 on the season.
Bluffton is off this weekend due to the freezing temperatures so the Beavers will return to action next Wednesday, March 22, with a doubleheader at Wilmington College. Game one is scheduled for 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
