WOMEN'S GOLF
The Bluffton University women's golf team showed tremendous growth during the 2020-21 season, capping it off with a 6th place finish at the Heartland Conference Championships on Sunday, April 25.

.Junior Brylee Oberdorf (Clyde/Green Springs) finished eight strokes back of Obringer with a 293, while Marissa Hall (Avon Lake) and Grace Branson (Carlisle) rounded out the weekend with scores of 300 and 326, respectively.

While the 2020-21 season is now in the books, 2021-22 is just around the corner with Bluffton heading back to the links in just over four months.

SOFTBALL

The Bluffton University softball team came up on the short end of a pair of Heartland Conference contests at Hanover College on Sunday, April 25, 2021. The Panthers took game one 5-4 and then they rallied to finish the sweep with a 5-3 victory in the nightcap.

The Beavers trailed 4-0 in game one when sophomore Marissa Auvil (Canton/North Canton Hoover) ripped a two-run triple to right field that plated pinch runner Bryn Cisco (Lancaster/Fairfield Union) and Lexus Rutledge (Henderson, KY/Henderson County), cutting the deficit in half.

Lily Tate's (Mount Gilead/Northmor) first collegiate homer knotted the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh as she drove in pinch runner Sammi Urban (Troy/Miami East), but a bases-loaded single by the Panthers in the home half ended game one with Hanover on the winning side of the ledger, 5-4.

Auvil and Tate both drove in two runs for the Beavers. Sophomore Erin Norman (Pleasant Hill/Newton) took the loss after allowing five runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work. She struck out one and walked four.

The visitors went up 3-1 in the top of the third when sophomore standout Bobbi Adams (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) singled home Tate and Riley Langstaff (Findlay) before a double from fellow Findlay High School alum Taylor Steinke (Findlay) plated senior Sydney Bowen (Convoy/Crestview). However, a three-spot on the other side of the book in the home half propelled Hanover to a 5-3 victory and series sweep of the Beavers.

Bowen and Adams both smacked two hits in game two with Adams driving in a pair of runs. Senior Katie McCord (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits in a six-inning, complete-game effort. Ste struck out two and walked two.

Bluffton will be back on the road Wednesday for a twin-bill at rival Defiance College. Game one is slated for 3:30 p.m. in the land of the Yellow Jackets.

BASEBALL

The Bluffton University baseball team welcomed Anderson University to Memorial Field for the second time in four days on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Bluffton took game one, 7-5, before Anderson secured the split with a 4-1 victory in the series finale. The Beavers moved to 13-19 overall and in the conference, while Anderson stands at 16-12 on the season.

Anderson put up single runs in each of the first two innings before Reid Ruhl's (Hamilton) fielder's choice plated Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake), making it 2-1 Ravens. A three-run fourth was set up when Duncan's attempted sacrifice bunt elicited a throw down the right field line, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) came home on Kenny Schneider's (Sunbury/Big Walnut) RBI groundout and Jaxon Rogan (Marysville) singled in Duncan, putting Bluffton on top. Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) made it 4-2 with his sacrifice fly to right that picked up Rogan.

Ruhl tripled and scurried home on a Raven wild pitch in the sixth. Parker Reynolds (Avon) made it 6-4 in favor of the good guys with his RBI single. The graduate student did it again two innings later when his base knock plated Jacob Latkofsky (Temperance, Mich./Ida) with a valuable insurance run as the Beavers came away with a 7-5 victory in game one.

Tommy Siemer (Liberty Township/Lakota East) worked around eight walks as he improved to 5-1 on the season. He allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in seven innings on the hill. Seth Evans (Ada/OSU-Lima) tossed two shutout frames for his third save of the season.

Latkofsky, Reynolds and Schneider all finished with two hits in game one. Duncan and Latkofsky both scored two runs, while Reynolds drove in two.

The Bluffton bats were silent in the series capper as Anderson's Kasey Henderson went the distance, allowing just one unearned run on five hits in a complete-game effort. He struck out eight and walked four. Rogan scored Bluffton's lone run on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh with Anderson attempting to turn a double play.

Sophomore Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) turned in a quality start. allowing three runs, just one earned, on seven hits in seven innings of work. He struck out four and issued just one free pass.

Bluffton is off until next Saturday, May 1, when the Beavers welcome Hanover College on Senior Day. Game one is slated for 1 p.m. at Memorial Field.