BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University softball team dropped a pair of home contests to Earlham College in the Heartland Conference opener for both teams on Sunday, March 29, 2026. Bluffton fell to 8-8 overall and 0-2 in the HCAC, while Earlham improved to 10-10 and 2-0 in league play.
Senior Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee) walked and came around to score in the bottom of the second inning, making it 3-1 in favor of the Quakers. A run from freshman Brooklynn Bakle (Paulding) in the third following her two-bagger and a base hit by Julia Tegeder (Hamilton) kept it a two-run game (4-2) going to the fourth frame.
The Quakers posted a four-spot in the fourth, but Bluffton stayed within striking distance thanks to three tallies in the home half. Halee McDade (Oxford/Talawanda) singled home Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake), Tianna Galbraith (Wayne/Elmwood) doubled in McDade and Bakle's two-bagger plated Galbraith, making it 8-5.
A bases-loaded walk to McDade and an RBI single for Bakle pulled the Beavers within a run (8-7) going to the sixth, but Earlham nailed down the 11-7 victory with three runs over the final two frames.
Bakle went 3-of-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Tegeder, Brentlinger and Ramirez all chimed in with two hits. McDade drove in two, while Grant and Brentlinger scored two runs apiece.
Sophomore Grace Gronberg (Danville) fell to 4-3 after allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 3.1 innings of work. She struck out four and walked three in game one. Klary McKay (Salem/Mahoning County Career Tech Center) limited the Quakers to three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings of relief.
Ramirez went yard in the bottom of the second following base hits by Grant and Brentlinger, putting the home team up 3-1. Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) singled and crossed the dish following a Brentlinger double an inning later, but the Quakers scored in five of six innings, including six times in top of the fourth, en route to a 13-4 mercy-rule victory and series sweep.
Brentlinger smacked three hits in game two, giving her five safeties for the day. McDade added a pair of hits and Ramirez drove in three with her third long ball of the season.
Junior Colleen Meese (Rocky River) slipped to 1-2 after surrendering eight runs on seven hits with two walks in 3.2 innings on the bump.
Bluffton will be back at home for non-conference doubleheader with Capital University on Tuesday, March 31. Game one is slated for 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
