By: Ethan Stearns, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team fell just short in a pair of games against a very impressive Mount St. Joseph squad on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. After a tough 6-1 loss in the first game, the Beavers gave it their all in a 5-4 defeat that went to extra innings. Bluffton slipped to 14-20 overall with a 3-9 conference mark, while the Lions stayed perfect at 10-0 in the Heartland Conference and 25-9 overall.
Game number one saw the visitors put up three runs in the first frame and they never looked back on the way to a 6-1 victory. The lone Beaver tally came from a witty play by freshman Ashley Kloeker (Troy) The pinch runner broke for home and crossed the dish when Mia McCartney (North Baltimore) stole second in the bottom of the fifth.
Elizabeth Crites (Findlay) and McCartney both went 1-of-1 in game one. Sophomore Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) took the loss, pitching the first inning and allowing four runs on four hits with two walks. Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) was outstanding over the final six innings, allowing only two more runs with two strikeouts.
The second game of a cold and windy Tuesday saw the Beavers storm out of the gate with four runs over the first two innings. Bluffton scored one in the first as Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) slapped a single to third base that picked up Kryshel Dales (Defiance/Ayersville) who led off the game with a two-bagger to left field.
Bluffton kept its foot on the gas in the second, scoring three more runs and going up 4-0. The first tally came home on another Dales double to left field that scored Sydney Zinkon (Fresno/Ridgewood). Crites then stepped into the box and knocked a base hit through the left side for a 3-0 lead. Senior Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) cleaned things up with a shot that zipped to right center, plating Dales and making it 4-0.
MSJ managed just one run through the first six innings, but that would all change with the Lions down to their last strike. Courtney Keller did what she had done 11 times already this season and that was launched a clutch, three-run bomb over the left field fence to tie things up at four apiece, sending the game into an extra frame.
Mount St. Joseph scored in their half of the eighth and the Lions held Bluffton in order to walk away with a 5-4 win to remain undefeated in the HCAC.
Dales, Crites, Adams, and Grant all added RBIs in the amazing effort, with Dales going 3-of-4 and being robbed of a perfect 4-of-4 when her shot down the line clipped the bag and ended up in the first baseman's glove.
Grace Fillinger (Hinckley/Highland) gave the Beavers a herculean effort in game two, pitching all eight innings in the 5-4 loss. She fell to 6-7 after allowing five runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and just two walks.
Bluffton will look to get back in the win column on Thursday, April 27, when the Beavers host another conference doubleheader with Manchester University. The women will also celebrate their amazing senior class in between the two games, with the first contest set to begin at approximately 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-