Anderson Uses Late Surge to Slug Past Defiance

DEFIANCE, Ohio – A pair of hot-swinging offenses collided at Rutter Field on Friday with the wind howling out, as Defiance and Anderson squared off in the first of a three-game weekend series. When the dust had settled, 33 runs had been scored on 43 hits and AU walked away with a 24-9 victory.

The two sides collected 12 runs and 18 of those hits in the opening two innings, as Anderson raced out to the 7-5 advantage heading into the third frame. The bats would temporarily cool down with neither side denting the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth, when DC tied the game on back-to-back RBI doubles from Tim Pitro and Casey Kahsen.

Defiance then claimed its first and only lead of the day in the fifth, when Kirk Jesse singled home Zach Stallkamp to lift the Jackets to the 8-7 lead heading into the sixth inning.

Anderson answered with a single run in the sixth to draw even at 8-8 and then erupted in the eighth inning to take command of the game. The Ravens sent 16 men to the plate and eventually scored 12 to turn an 8-8 tie into a 20-8 lead. AU knocked out seven hits in the frame, but did most of its damage after three Yellow Jacket fielding blunders opened the floodgates for nine unearned runs in the inning.

Defiance would not recover from the onslaught, as Anderson (17-11, 8-4 HCAC) finished off the 24-9 victory in the opening game of the pivotal three-game set in league play.

Offense was plentiful on both sides and Pitro led the way for DC with a 3-5 showing at the plate and five runs batted in. Pitro homered and doubled while scoring two times. Brent Kremer and Kahsen also had three-hit days and Jesse ended with a 4-5 showing to go with two runs and one RBI.

Defiance (12-12, 4-5 HCAC) will have two more cracks at the Ravens on Saturday, with a twinbill at Rutter Field set to begin at noon.