CLERMONT, Fla. - The Bluffton University softball team wrapped up its Florida trip in style with wins over Norwich and Susquehanna on Thursday, March 5, 2026. The Beavers improved to 4-4 on the season.
Brooklynn Bakle (Paulding) and Julia Tegeder (Hamilton) singled to open game one, setting up senior Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) who followed with a two-run single through the right side. A ground-rule double for Halee McDade (Oxford/Talawanda) made it 3-0 after three innings of play.
Junior Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Loudon) tripled to lead off the fourth and she crossed the dish courtesy of a Bakle two-bagger.
Norwich trimmed its deficit to 4-2 going to the seventh, but a three-run bomb my Grace Gronberg (Danville) capped off a 7-2 Bluffton victory in the lidlifter.
Gronberg got it done at the dish and in the circle. She improved to 2-1 after limiting the Cadets to two runs on four hits in a complete-game effort. The sophomore struck out five and walked three batters.
Grant went 3-of-4 with two RBI. Bakle and Gronberg both smacked two hits with Gronberg driving in three runs. Sophomore Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) scored two runs in the victory.
Brentlinger got the scoring started in the first inning of game two, driving in Hampton with a base hit to right center. McDade made it 3-0 with a two-run single up the middle as Grant and Brentlinger crossed the dish.
A sacrifice fly from McDade and an RBI double to right center for freshman Hailey Mowell (Cincinnati/Reading) gave the Beavers a 5-2 lead heading to the fourth and that's when the floodgates opened.
Back-to-back doubles by Tegeder and Grant pushed it to 7-2 before a two-run two-bagger for Mowell made it 9-2. Fellow freshman Klary McKay (Salem/Mahoning County Career Tech Center) helped her cause with a two-run single to right center that had the Beavers up 11-2.
Mowell's third straight RBI hit helped the Beavers nail down its second victory of the day, a 12-9 win over Susquehanna that got both teams off the field before the rain took over.
Leading the offense with three hits and four RBI, Mowell made the most of her first start for the Beavers! Brentlinger went 3-of-4 and scored four runs, equaling the school record. Gronberg, Tegeder and Hampton all chipped in with two safeties against Susquehanna. McDade and McKay drove in three and two runs, respectively.
McKay upped her season mark to 2-3, allowing eight runs on 13 hits in six innings of work. Junior Colleen Meese (Rocky River) closed out the seventh as Bluffton wrapped up a 4-4 week in the Florida sun!
Bluffton hit at a red-hot .331 clip for the week, smacking six homers and scoring a whopping 62 runs with a .483 slugging percentage. Grant hit .520 with 10 RBI to lead the Bluffton offense this week.
The Beavers saw tough competition throughout the week and will be battle tested when Bluffton is back on the diamond at Heidelberg on Wednesday, March 18. Game one from Tiffin is slated for 3:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-