Kremer Blasts First Career Dinger in Loss at Bluffton

BLUFFTON, Ohio – Freshman Brad Kremer launched a two-run home run in the top of the first inning on Tuesday to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead but Bluffton answered by clearing the fences six times en route to handing Defiance a 19-5 defeat.

Aaron Helland ignited the first-inning rally for DC by working a walk, swiping second base and scooting to third on a wild pitch. Helland then scored on an error, before Kremer's two-run jack gave the Purple and Gold the early three-run cushion.

The lead would not last long however, as the Beavers scored two in the first and another in the second to draw even, before erupting for 11 runs in the third and fourth inning. BU would eventually score in each of its first seven innings, while posting 19 unanswered runs to blow the game open.

Helland sparked the lineup from his leadoff position once again, reaching safely four times, stealing his 20th base of the season and scoring twice. Kremer added the firepower with the two-run homer to up his team-leading extra-base hit total to eight and Jonathan Murphy laced a two-run double in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.

Defiance (5-27, 1-16 HCAC) will close its 2011 season with a pair of three-game home weekend sets against Franklin and Mount St. Joseph. The Jackets will host Franklin on April 29 and 30, before welcoming MSJ to Rutter Field on May 6 and 7.