The two wins ensured Bluffton’s fifth straight season with 10 or more wins as head Coach Greg Brooks is now just one win shy of victory number 250 in his career at BC.
Two non-league opponents dot the Beavers’ schedule this week as BC will host Cedarville University on Wednesday and Thomas More College on Saturday.
Bluffton found themselves trailing Ohio Northern last Thursday 9-2 in the sixth inning, but BC erupted for 13 runs during the seventh and eighth innings and cruised to a 16-12 win. The 18-hit BC attack was led by freshman Bob Heitkamp who went 4-5 from the plate and scored three runs. Freshman Ryan Fiely, sophomore Tony Boenker and junior Dustin Kreis all added two hits each and freshman Colin Bechtol homered. Freshman Ryan Whitaker and sophomores Eric Humpal and David Snow all pitched three innings, with Snow picking up the win, his second of the season.
Bluffton’s three-game series in Cincinnati against Heartland Conference foe Mount St. Joseph didn’t start as well as planned as the Beavers dropped the first game 9-8 as well as the second game 7-0. In game one, senior Jeff Haulman and Heitkamp both collected three hits each, including a homer by Haulman. In game two, junior Brad Buckingham’s two hits were all that BC would be allowed during the 7-0 loss.
But on Sunday the BC bats came alive for a season high 19 hits as the Beavers scored in each of the first five innings on their way to a 13-3 win. Haulman, Kreis and freshman Dan Crider each slapped three hits each while freshman Kyle Alberson clubbed his seventh homer of the season, which ties the third best single-season homer total at BC and set a new BC record for a freshman. Heitkamp went six innings in picking up his second win of the season, while senior Bill Bechtel worked the final three innings for his third save of the year.
BC now stands at 10-21 overall and 5-10 in the HCAC.
