Photos courtesy of Simmons Sports Information
CLERMONT, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team slipped to 2-4 this season following a pair of losses on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Simmons rallied for a 7-0 victory in the lidlifter and Neumann held on for a 5-4 win in game two.
Sophomore Grace Gronberg (Danville) matched Simmons ace Paige Kinney pitch for pitch through six innings as goose eggs lined the scoreboard until the visitors took advantage of a couple Bluffton miscues in the top of the seventh. The Sharks piled up seven runs, all unearned, on four hits, two errors, a walk and a hit batter. Bluffton went down in order as the Beavers managed just one hit in a 7-0 loss that did not look anything like the game on the field.
Gronberg dipped to 1-1 despite nearly tossing a complete game in which she did not allow an earned run. She struck out six and walked four while scattering nine hits over 6.2 innings. A one-out base knock by sophomore Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) in the top of the first was the only hit in game one.
Bluffton responded to its loss with a three-run surge in the opening inning against Neumann from Philadelpia, Penn. Brentlinger and Julia Tegeder (Hamilton) ripped back-to-back one out singles before Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) picked them both up with her base knock to left center. Freshman Brooklynn Bakle (Paulding) made it 3-0 with a two-bagger down the left field line.
Neumann put up two in the first, two in the second and a single tally in the third for a 5-3 lead that held until the top of the sixth when an RBI ringle for Bakle pulled the Beavers within a run (5-4). Neumann worked around a Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) single in the seventh, closing out the 5-4 victory while improving to 3-5 on the season.
Bakle went 3-of-3 with a pair of RBI. Grant also drove in two runs.
Freshman Klary McKay (Salem/Mahoning County Career Tech Center) went the distance, allowing five runs, just two earned, on eight hits in 6.0 innings of work. She struck out two and issued three free passes.
Bluffton will wrap up its week in Florida with two more games on Thursday, March 5. The Beavers tackle Norwich at 10 a.m. before matching up with Susquehanna at 2:45 p.m. Both games are slated for Hancock Park in Clermont.
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