Ravens Fall to Beavers in HCAC Tournament

The Anderson University baseball team fell to Bluffton University by a score of 11-3 during the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament on Thursday at University of Kentucky's Proud Park in Lexington, Ky.

"The final score did not tell the tale of the tape in our game," Coach Mathew Bair said. "It was 2-0 going into the top of the eighth inning and both teams were pitching a gem of a game before things slipped away from us. Our hats are off to Bluffton and their pitcher. He did a great job of mixing his pitches and we were unable to build any momentum."

Anderson (22-18), originally a No. 5 seed, was reseeded to a No. 4 seed for the double-elimination round of the HCAC Tournament. Bluffton (19-22), originally a No. 8 seed, was reseeded to a No. 5 seed for the double-elimination round of the conference tournament.

Jack Towell put the Beavers on the board with an RBI single in the top of the second inning.

Jacob Latkofsky double in a run during the fifth.

In the eighth inning, Bluffton poured in nine runs to take an 11-0 lead. Brandon Wilson contributed an RBI double. Reid Ruhl ripped a two-run double. Latkofsky then singled in a run. Parker Reynolds belted an RBI triple. Towell then recorded a run-scoring single. Lenny Winarski drew a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. Ruhl then capped off Bluffton's scoring for the inning with a two-run single.

T.J. Price (Anderson, Ind./Daleville) delivered a three-run home run for the Ravens in the ninth.

Extra-base hits for the Ravens came from Price's three-run blast and a double from M.J. Furnish (Fisher, Ind./Heritage Christian). Justin Reed (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) and Rene Casas Jr. (Anderson, Ind./Pendleton Heights) rounded out Anderson's four hits with singles. Branton Sanders (Whiteland, Ind./Whiteland) stole a base a drew a walk. Furnish also drew a walk.

Ruhl went 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs for the Beavers. Reynolds finished 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI triple. Latkosky went 2-for-6 with a double and two RBIs. Wilson tallied an RBI double, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Towell finished 2-for-6 with two RBIs. Adam Duncan went 3-for-4 while Jake Baumgartner finished 2-for-6 with a double. Jaxon Rogan and Garrett O'Reilly rounded out Bluffton's 18 hits with singles.

Jacob Boelkens (4-2) put together the win for the Beavers. He struck out four batters, issued two walks and allowed three runs on four hits in eight and one-third innings. Sam Meek retired both of the batters he faced.

Kasey Henderson (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) (6-2) was tagged with the loss. He fanned three batters, yielded three walks and gave up five runs on 12 hits in seven innings. Evan Doan (Frankton, Ind./Frankton) issued zero walks and surrendered six runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning. Cole Whitlock (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South) punched out a batter, yielded a walk and allowed one hit in one and one-third scoreless innings.

Anderson faces off with second-seeded Franklin College (25-13) to continue the HCAC Tournament on Friday at 10:30 a.m.

"We are still primed to win this tournament. Will it be tough? Yes. Are we prepared to do so? Yes! We will have a short memory [Thursday] and we are ready to get back to work [Friday]."