BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team took Heartland Conference power Transylvania to the limit in game one before falling 9-1 in the nightcap as the Beavers fell to 12-20 overall and 2-10 in the HCAC. The Pioneers improved to 22-3 with a spotless 8-0 mark in the conference.

Bluffton stunned Transylvania with three runs in the top of the first on just one hit. Sophomore Ella McCombs (Springfield/Southeastern) led off the game with a base hit to left. Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) was hit by a pitch and Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) wallked to load the bases. Riley Hammonds (Russia) and Reagen O'Brien (Bellbrook) ground balls plated McCombs and Hampton for a quick 2-0 lead with no outs. An RBI groundout for Grace Gronberg (Danville) made it 3-0 as Grant crossed the dish.

Transylvania got a run on two hits in the fourth and then they put three more up in the top of the sixth. Three hits and a pair of Bluffton errors made the score 4-3 and the visitors made it hold up as the Beavers went three up and three down in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Gronberg was excellent in the circle despite falling to 5-10 on the season. She allowed four runs, three earned, on just five hits in a complete-game effort. The freshman phenom fanned eight and walks just two.

McCombs smacked the only two hits for Bluffton, a pair of singles to left field.

The Pioneers got on the board with two runs in the top of the first in game two and never looked back. They scored in all but one inning en route to the convincing 9-1 mercy-rule victory.

A Hammonds sacrifice fly in the fourth picked up Grant for the lone Bluffton tally in the nightcap.

Grant finished with two hits and Hampton had the only other safety for the Beavers in game two. 

Sophomore Colleen Meese (Rocky River) fell to 2-4 after allowing six runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work. Hayley Lewis (Kettering/Fairmont) tossed the final 2.1 frames. She gave up three runs on four hits with a strikeout.

Bluffton will be back in action on Thursday, April 24, when the women travel to Anderson University for a double feature with the Ravens. Game one is slated for 3 p.m.

-BEAVERS-