BEREA, Ky. - Berea College swept a pair of Heartland Conference games from Bluffton University on Saturday, March 28, 2026. Bluffton fell to 7-12 overall and 1-5 in the league, while the Mountaineers moved to 3-21 and 2-4 in the HCAC.
The home team scored an unearned run in the first, but Bluffton erased that and then some with a six-run fourth inning. Senior Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg/Triad) singled and moved to third thanks to a pair of wild pitches. He crossed the dish following an RBI single to center from Wes Toth (Chagrin Falls/Kenston). Sam Archambeau (Maumee) put the Beavers up 2-1 when he was hit by a pitch with the sacks full. Freshman Carsen Riddle (Troy) picked up Brandon North (Hilliard/Bradley) with a sacrifice fly before Drew Snipes (Pickerington/North) followed suit, plating Xander Greulich (Pemberville/Eastwood) with his fly ball to center. Sophomore Tyler Forest (Harrison/LaSalle) made it 6-1 with a two-run two-bagger to left that scored Torin Long (Defiance) and Archambeau.
Bluffton was five outs away from notching game one of the series when disaster struck. Berea tallied five runs on four hits and two walks as the Mountaineers knotted the score at six apiece. That score held firm until the home half of the 11th when three hits and a hit batter added up to a 7-6 Berea victory in the Saturday lidlifter.
Junior Riley Reyna (Wellington) was outstanding on the hill. He astruck out 10 and allowed just two hits and one unearned run across six innings. Berea got to freshman Travis Rooney (Thompson, Pa./Susquehanna) for four runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of relief. Senior Alexander James (Vandalia/Butler) took the loss, but he gave Bluffton a chance, tossing 3.1 innings while limiting Berea to two run on five hits with five strikeouts.
Forest, who drove in two runs, and Archambeau both smacked two hits for the visitors in game one.
Despite scoring eight runs over the final five innings of game two, Bluffton dropped a 10-8 decision in the nightcap. With the Beavers trailing 7-0 in the top of the fifth, Peyton Tichenor (Heath/Lakewood) drew a one-out walk befroe singles from Snipes and Forest loaded the bases for Spriggs who was hit by a pitch. Toth laced a two-run single to left and Archambaeau made it 7-4 with his base knock that plated Spriggs.
Forest tripled home Snipes in the sixth and Bluffton scored three more in the ninth thanks to an RBI double by pinch hitter Drew Johnson (Bucyrus/Wynford) and a two-run single for Snipes, but it was too little, too late as Berea capped the Saturday sweep with a 10-8 victory.
Archambeau had a hot bat, going 4-of-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Snipes was 3-of-7 with two RBI and two runs scored. Forest and North both tallied two hits, while Toth drove in two runs.
Freshman Noah Davis (Cincinnati/Norwood) dipped to 1-1 after allowing four runs on four hits in three innings on the hill. He walked three and struck out one.
Bluffton and Berea will tee it up one more time on Sunday, March 29, at 12 p.m.
-BEAVERS-