By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers would celebrate the collegiate careers of their graduating players in their final home contest of the season against the Hanover Panthers. Prior to first pitch of game one, the Beavers would recognize Zane Sarcheck (Sunbury, Ohio / Big Walnut), William Nowakowski (Grand Rapids, Ohio / Swanton), Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg, Ohio / Triad), Alexander James (Vandalia, Ohio / Butler), Jack Genzman (Ottawa Hills), Colin Russ (North Olmstead, Ohio / Cuyahoga CC), and William Nissen for their contributions to the Bluffton baseball program. As game one got underway, the Beavers would force extras after a ninth inning comeback, but the Panthers would come away with a 5-2 win after 10 innings. In game two, the offense just couldn't get going for Bluffton as they would be shutout 9-0, dropping them to an overall record of 8-27, with a 2-17 mark in the HCAC. With the two-game sweep, Hanover improves to 15-18 on the season and to 10-8 in conference play.
After a scoreless first two innings, the Panthers would strike first in the third inning with an RBI single, before adding another run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to take a 2-0 lead. Going into the ninth, the Beavers would be allowing a no-hitter, but after a walk put Wes Toth (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) on first, Drew Snipes (Pickerington, Ohio / North) would smack a double down the left field line to advance Toth to third and giving the Beavers their first hit of the ballgame. Brandon North (Hilliard, Ohio / Bradley) would then step up to the plate and connect on a 2-run single that sneaked down the right field line, scoring Toth and Snipes to even up the contest at 2-2. Forcing extras, Hanover would take advantage of having two runners on base and smack a three-run homerun to right to go up 5-2 in the 10th. The deficit would be too much for the Beavers to overcome as they would fall in game one, 5-2.
Outhit 8-3, Bluffton would get their hits from Drew Snipes, Jake McCoy (Milford), and Brandon North, with North recording the only two RBI's of the contest.
Taking the loss on the mound was Alexander James, who falls to 1-3 overall, after pitching the final two innings and giving up three runs off two hits, with two walks, and recording a pair of strikeouts. Riley Reyna would allow just one earned run in 7.1 innings in his start, while fanning eight Panther batters. Defensively, the Beavers would cough up four errors, which would lead to four unearned runs for Hanover.
In game two, it was the Panthers game from the start. After going up 2-0 in the second, two more runs in the fifth and three more runs in the seventh allowed the visitors to jump ahead 7-0. The Bluffton offense couldn't find a rhythm, and after Hanover score two more in the ninth, they would trail 9-0. Unable to score in their final at bat, the Beavers would take a 9-0 loss in the final game of the day.
Six different Beavers would get hits in the outing for the Bluffton offense. Drew Snipes, Brandon North, and Jake McCoy would all finish 1-for-4, while Drew Johnson (Bucyrus, Ohio / Wynford), Wes Toth, and Zane Sarcheck all went 1-for-3 in the outing.
Noah Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio / Norwood) would start the contest and also take the loss, droping to 1-3 on the 2026 season after giving up three earned runs off nine Panther hits. Davis did manage to record a team-high four strikeouts, while William Nowakowski would add three in 1.2 innings of relief. The Beaver pitching staff would allow eight earned runs, while giving up 14 hits in the defeat.
Bluffton will get right back at it as they travel to Heidelberg on Sunday, Apr. 26 to finish a double-header series against the Heidelberg Student Princes that is set to start at noon.
