Bluffton, Ohio. – The Transylvania softball team used two strong pitching performances, combined with a well balanced offensive attack to sweep a two game series with the Bluffton Beavers on Sunday afternoon. The set of games, pushed back one day marked the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener for the Pioneers, the reigning regular-season champions.

Sunday's games on the road saw the Pioneers capture a thrilling come-from-behind victory in game one, erasing a 2-1 deficit with two outs remaining in the bottom of the seventh inning on the way to a 4-2 extra innings win. The Pioneers had a slightly more comfortable 6-4 victory that was secured in regulation.

With the pair of wins, the Pioneers moved to 2-0 in conference play and 15-6 overall.

Game One

It took eight innings for the Pioneers to secure the win in the first game of the day. Junior pitcher Renae Morton struck out six batters while only giving up two runs en route to earning the complete-game victory for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers got on the board early as a single from sophomore outfielder Shelbi Poehlein scored a run in the top of the first inning.

Transylvania was not able to push another run across the plate until the top of the seventh inning, and was down to its final two outs. A rally began when freshman pinch hitter Sydney Motell delivered a double to left field. Sophomore pinch runner Jordan Kramer stepped in for Motell and was moved to third on a groundout from junior outfielder Madison Dorsey.

Down to the final out, sophomore infielder Brittany Mumford drove a fly ball to right field which was dropped by Bluffton, improbably scoring Kramer for the tying run. With the game tied at 2-2, the Pioneers blanked Bluffton in the bottom of the inning to move the game into extra innings.

The Pioneers finished off the comeback in the top of the eighth inning; with two outs and the bases loaded, Dorsey drove a two-run single to center field to bring home sophomore infielder Meg Liter and sophomore outfielder Shelbi Poehlein for a 4-2 lead.  

Morton collected her seventh win of the season, while sophomore center fielder Shelby Gambrell and Poehlein each had two-hit performances.

Game Two

There would be no late game heroics in game two, as the Pioneers led the Beavers right from the start of the game.

The Transylvania pitching duo of sophomores Jordan Kramer and Tayler Thompson combined to strike out three batters while only giving up one earned run in seven innings of action.

A pair of singles from Poehlein and sophomore infielder Meg Liter combined with a double from sophomore infielder Jessica Powell scored four runs for the Pioneers in the top of the first inning.

After giving up three runs in the bottom of the fifth, Transylvania responded with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to secure a 6-3 lead.

Bluffton only managed to score one run over the final two innings, leading to a final score of 6-4 in favor of the Pioneers.

Four Pioneers had multi-hit games in the nightcap, as Bailey, Poehlein, Liter and first baseman Jessica Powell all had two hits apiece.

Thompson picked up the win for Transylvania, who grew its winning streak to four after Sunday's games.

Up next, the Pioneers will take a break from Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play as they face the Birmingham Southern College Panthers in a pair of games on Friday, March 7. First pitch of game one is set for 3:30 p.m. at Asbury University, in Wilmore, Kentucky.   

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