Nick Weimer went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI and Chris Waite struck out eight in seven innings as Mt. St. Joseph defeated Bluffton in the Beavers' season opener, 10-5.

Tony Moore went 3-for-4 for Bluffton, sparking a two-run rally in the third inning with a leadoff double. The game was attended by 2,500 fans and many national media members, including John Walters of NBCSports.com. Check out Walters' column.

It was Bluffton's return to the baseball field for the first time this season, four weeks after the bus crash that killed seven, including five players. The team was en route to Florida for a spring trip that was to feature seven games in five days.

The team exchanged its usual purple and white uniforms for all black, which team members will wear to honor their fallen teammates. Coach James Grandey, whose leg is in a brace and whose jaw is wired shut, wasn't coaching the team but was on hand for the game.

"For the players, it will be a marker that allows them to move on in some ways, but never forget that part of their team isn't with them anymore," Bluffton president James Harder told the Associated Press earlier in the week in a telephone interview. "I think it's the right thing to do."

According to the AP, there was a festive pregame atmosphere, yet there were reminders of the tragedy. Five white crosses hung on the chain-link fence next to the visitors' dugout, and banners with the victims' uniform numbers hung on the outfield fence. David Betts, Scott Harmon, Cody Holp and Tyler Williams all died when the team bus overturned on a highway overpass on March 2; teammate Zach Arend died a week later. A student coach remains hospitalized.