SCORES: G1 – Earlham 8, Bluffton 1 / G2 – Bluffton 5, Earlham 2
LOCATION: Richmond, Indiana (Randal R. Sadler Stadium)
RECORDS: Earlham 5-1 / Bluffton 1-4

RICHMOND, Indiana – Earlham College baseball stayed ahead of the pack and atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with a split against Bluffton University on Saturday afternoon at Randal R. Sadler Stadium. The Quakers posted a lop-sided 8-1 win over the Beavers in game 1, with Bluffton winning the nightcap, 5-2.

GAME 1
Earlham got break-out innings in the fourth and sixth to take command of the game.

The Quakers opened the fourth with a leadoff single from Danny Dopp followed by a double to right center by Austin Hatfield, with Brian Pincura's triple down the right field line bringing home both runners to put Earlham up 3-0.

After a single Earlham run in the fifth, the Maroon and White put together a three-run sixth inning keyed by Nathan Lancianese's triple to left-center that plated Easton Embry and pinch hitter Robby Shondel.

The teams traded runs in the eighth, with Lancianese recording his fourth RBI of the day with a single that scored pinch runner James Grace.

Lancianese finished the game 4-for-4 with one run scored and three batted in, while Pincura and Embry each collected two hits.

Earlham starter Joey Gerbus fanned eight Bluffton batters over his eight innings on the mound, improving his record to 2-0. He scattered seven hits and issued two walks while yielding one earned run.

GAME 2
Earlham allowed four runs in the top of the first inning, and Bluffton held off all Quaker rally efforts to escape Sadler Stadium with the game two win.

The Beavers engineered their four-run first on a leadoff hit by Reid Ruhl, back-to-back walks drawn by Jacob Latkofsky and Jack Towell, followed two batters later by a two-run double down the left field line by Garrett O'Reilly. Towell scored later in the frame on a wild pitch, while O'Reilly crossed on a grounder to second.

The Quakers held the Beavers to three-up, three-down in three of the next four innings, and allowed a Bluffton base runner to reach third base just four times the rest of the way.

Earlham's come-back campaign began with Jeordan Kuderer's RBI double in the third inning and Maxwell Fries' two-base shot to right-center in the fourth to score Dopp, that cut the margin to 4-2 after four complete innings.

The Quakers got runners aboard in every inning the rest of the way, but were unable to close ground on the Beavers. Earlham had runners at second and third with two out in the seventh and threatened to tie the game, but Bluffton's Tommy Siemer induced a pop-up to second to get out of the frame unscathed. The Beavers then tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth on Ruhl's RBI triple to left field to scored Jaxon Rogan.

Starter Justin Dillhoff lasted four innings and charted four strikeouts against four earned runs on four hits and two walks on his way to taking the loss for the Quakers. Siemer earned the win for Bluffton with seven strikeouts over seven innings of work.

NEXT UP:
Earlham baseball is at home again next Saturday, March 20, when it hosts Anderson University in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.