By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - With rain on the horizon, the Bluffton Beavers would move up their game against the Heidelberg Student Princes to compete in an early afternnoon contest. The Student Princes would get hot at the plate and while the Beavers were able to get some offense going, a late inning rally would lead to a 11-6 loss in game one, followed by a 4-3 loss in game two. The pair of losses drops the Beavers to an overall record of 8-29 on the season as they head into their final conference matchup sitting at 2-17 in the HCAC.
Heidelberg would get on the board first, getting a run in the top of the first to go up 1-0 early on. After a scoreless second inning, the visitors would add another run to their score, taking a 3-0 lead on Bluffton before a Drew Snipes (Pickerington, Ohio / North) run in the bottom of the frame cut the deficit to 3-1. Neither team would put up run sin the fourth and in the fifth after an RBI single gave the Student Princes a 4-1 advantage, a 2-run dinger from Wes Toth (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) would bring the Beavers within one, 4-3. Heidelberg would immediately respond in the top of the sixth, answering with a pair of runs of their own to go up 6-3 before a lighting delay in the middle of the inning would hault play. The two teams would return to action and finish play at Heidelberg, where the Beavers would tally a runin the seventh to make it a two run game. After a double steal in the eighth scored Carsen Riddle (Troy), Tyler Forest (Harrison, Ohio / LaSalle) would connect on a double down the left field line to score Drew Snipes, evening the game at 6-6. Forcing the game into an extra 10th inning, the Studentn Princes would erupt for five runs in the frame and after the Beavers couldn't match it, they would hand Bluffton an 11-6 defeat.
It was a close battle at the plate, with Heidelberg having a 12-10 edge in total hits. Tyler Forest would lead the way for the Beavers going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs, with Wes Toth finishing 3-for-5 with two RBIs, including a homerun.
Nathan Waggoner (Brookville) would take the loss to drop to 1-3 on the season after throwing 3.1 innings and allowing three runs off three hits. Jack Hardesty (Akron, Ohio / Hoban) would toss 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs off four hits.
The two teams would open up game two with two scoreless innings, with Heidelberg breaking the drought with a run in the third to go up 1-0. They would add another run in the bottom of the fifth before a sacrifice fly from Drew Snipes would score Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg, Ohio / Triad), cutting the deficit down to 2-1. In the top of the eighth, Wes Toth would crack a two-run homerun, his second in two games against the Student Princes, as the Beavers found themselves up front 3-2. In the bottom of the frame, the lead would be short lived as the hosts would flip the script and score a pair to retake the lead 4-3. Trailing by one run, Bluffton would be unable to answer in the top of the ninth as Heidelberg would come away with a 4-3 win over the Beavers.
Two Bluffton batters would record two hits apiece in the outing, with Ayden Spriggs going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, and Tyler Forest finishing the game with a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Also contributing for the Beavers was Wes Toth, who hit his fourth homerun of the season as he led the team wtih two RBIs.
Starting the contest on the mound and falling to 0-4 on the season was Matthew Becher (Harrison, Ohio / LaSalle), who pitched 7.1 innings and allowed four runs off seven hits, fanning two batters in the process.
The Beavers will close out their 2026 campaign when they travel to Franklin for a three game series with two games being played on Friday, May 1 starting at 2 p.m., followed by one game being played on Sunday, May 3 at 1 p.m.
-Beavers-