The head coach of the Beavers is Heather Bruder and this will be her fourth season as head coach of the Beavers. Coach Bruder is assisted by Assistant Coach Paul Burnside. The team plays in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). The team returns a strong core of players with six starters returning and a seventh key player in a second pitcher. This gives them strong leadership and a battle tested team. Overall the team is made up of two seniors, two juniors, seven sophomores, and four freshmen. They look to improve on last year’s season in which they set a school record in wins going 30-13. Beavers also went 12-4 in the HCAC and finished tied for second in the conference. They must pick up for the loss of a big bat in the middle of the order to which they lost to graduation; Lindsey Miller who had a .458 batting average with 46 runs batted in and 7 homeruns. Another loss in pitcher Kellie Kenney to graduation who had 19 appearances with a 10-4 record, a 2.38 earned run average and seven complete games. The team must account for these two key losses. The pitching will fall in the hands of sophomore Kristin Agauas who last year appeared in twenty games with 5-2 record, a 2.40 earned run average and four complete games. The ace of the pitching staff is senior Brooke Babcock who appeared in 26 games with a 1.89 earned run average and 14 complete games. The offense will turn to senior Jayme Marbaugh to take the place of Miller. Marbaugh finished last season with a .385 batting average, 26 runs batted in and 10 doubles. She will look for help from sophomore Chelsie Osborne who had a .346 batting average and 32 runs batted in last season.
The team looks to make an NCAA playoff appearance for the first time in school history. If they can make an appearance in the NCAA playoffs it will be the second athletic team to make an NCAA tournament appearance this year as the Beaver volleyball team did so to finish their season. The Beavers have won the HCAC conference three times, twice outright and sharing their last one in 2008 with Rose Holman Institute of Technology. The Beavers open the season on March 8th in the annual spring break trip to Florida to play in the Rebel Spring Games. The Repel Spring Games span March 8-12 where the team will play ten games in four days. The Beavers have been picked to finish second in the conference by the HCAC preseason poll. They received 70 total points and one first place vote in the coaches’ poll released Wednesday January 27. Transylvania has been picked to finish first receiving 79 total points and eight first place votes.
Game1 Bluffton vs #4 Ohio Northern
Bluffton 2 ONU 13
Game2 Bluffton vs #4 Ohio Northern
Bluffton 4 ONU 2
