By Bobby Bourke
The Bluffton baseball team is 18-12 overall and 10-4 in conference games and are sitting as the second ranked team in the conference behind Franklin as of April 28. With only eight games left, all against conference opponents, Bluffton will look to compete for that number one conference spot.
The Beavers started the year with expectations to compete for the conference and that is exactly what they have done for the better part of the season, even sitting at the number one spot for a while.
Now sitting at number two the Beavers will look to gain ground on Franklin who is the current number one team in the conference. With 8 games left, Bluffton is only 2 games back from first place.
The Beavers play Transylvania at home for two games, then they play Rose-Hulman at home for 2 games, and then it’s on the road to finish the year off at Hanover. These games will be very important as it pertains to where the beavers will end up in the standings at the end of the year.
“We have four tough double headers left against good opponents,” said senior second baseman Jake Baumgartner. “Obviously, we would love to win out and get that one spot but our main goal is to just get into the conference tournament.”
Baumgartner says if the team wins the last few games in the season, they can guarantee a spot in the playoffs.
“You do not want to play the Beavers in May I’ll tell you that,” said Baumgartner.
Bluffton’s season has had its peaks as well as its valleys but here they are sitting at the end of the year with a chance to get into the conference tournament. A tournament where the team says they like their chances against anybody.
The Beavers next game is a double header against Rose-Hulman on Friday, May 5 at Memorial Field. Games begin at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
