BLUFFTON, Ohio - The train kept on moving down the tracks as Bluffton University made short work of Berea College on a beautiful Community Day at Memorial Field Complex. Bluffton needed just 10 innings to dispatch the Mountaineers, finishing two games before baseball could nail down game one 4-3 in 15 innings! The Beavers improved to 15-9 overall and 3-3 in the Heartland Conference, while Berea slipped to 1-23 and 0-6 in conference play. The six straight wins equals the most since the Beavers won six in a row during the 2017 season!
Walks to Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) and Julia Tegeder (Hamilton) paid big dividends in the home first when sophomore Grace Gronberg (Danville) doubled to center, driving in two runs that proved to be more than enough for game one.
With the bases juiced and no outs in the bottom of the fourth, junior Taryn Hampton (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) put her wheels to use when she laced a laser down the left field line for an inside the park home run as Kaylee Grant (Lima/Shawnee), Gronberg and Leah Ramirez (Elida) all crossed the dish!
A Ramirez bullet to third plated Tegeder in the fifth and when Berea was unable to corral Tianna Galbraith's (Wayne/Elmwood) infield popup, Grant raced home for the 8-0 five-inning victory.
The visitors were no match for Gronberg who won her fourth game in six days while improving to 8-3. She tossed a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts against just two walks.
Ramirez went 2-of-3 for the Beavers. Hampton drove in four with her homer, while Gronberg added two RBI's. Tegeder and Grant both scored twice.
Brentlinger singled and came around to score on an RBI groudout by Tegeder in the home first of game two.
Another Brentlinger base hit in the second plated Hampton before a two-run double from Ella McCombs (Springfield/Southeastern) picked up freshmen Klary McKay (Salem/Mahoning County Career Tech Center) and Hailey Mowell (Cincinnati/Reading). Tegeder made it 6-0 when her shot up the middle drove in McCombs and Brentlinger.
Halee McDade (Oxford/Talswanda) got in on the action with an RBI single in the third and then the Bluffton bombers took over. Brentlinger cleared the bases with the Beavers' second grand slam of the day before a two-run Ramirez shot pushed the score to 14-0!
McKay was all business in the circle, needing just 63 pitches for her complete-game, three-hit shutout. She struck out three and did not issue a free pass.
Brentlinger was unstoppable, going 3-of-3 with three runs scored and five RBI. Tegeder drove in three, while McCombs and Ramirez plated two apiece. McCombs, Hampton, Mowell and McKay all scored twice in the 14-0 runaway.
Bluffton will play its fifth doubleheader in seven days when the Beavers travel to HCAC-heavyweight Franklin College on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Game one of the double feature is slated for 1 p.m.
-BEAVERS-