NCAA Division I Bowling Green Too Much for DC
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Defiance College took a break from its conference slate on Wednesday afternoon to take on NCAA Division I foe Bowling Green.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Defiance College took a break from its conference slate on Wednesday afternoon to take on NCAA Division I foe Bowling Green. The Jackets battled the Falcons to a 1-1 tie into the fifth, before ultimately falling short in the 10-2 defeat.
BGSU took the early lead with a single run in the bottom of the first, but Andy Habecker closed the frame without any further damage and tossed a quick second inning to allow DC to settle in.
Nicholas Bratt then took the bump for the Jackets and retired three Falcon batters on strikes over his two quick innings of work, as Habecker and Bratt combined to retire six BGSU hitters on strikes over four innings.
The strong effort on the mound from Habecker and Bratt allowed DC to draw even at 1-1 with a single tally in the top of the fourth. Bryn Lehman ignited the rally with a leadoff walk, before moving to second on a fielding error that allowed Darin Waterman to reach first. Patrick Masopust then advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, before Brad Kremer scored Lehman with a fly ball to center field.
The game would remain even until the bottom of the fifth, when BGSU exploded for six runs to take the 7-1 cushion. The host squad tacked on three more in the next inning and never looked back in the 10-2 contest.
Lehman and Waterman picked up the only two hits of the afternoon for Defiance, while Lehman and Chris Donese scored one run each.
Stephen Leskow, Clint Hoskins and Jake Taylor each turned in a scoreless outing on the mound to join Habecker and Bratt with crisp showings for the Jackets.
Defiance (7-14, 0-7 HCAC) will look to snap a season-long, five-game, losing streak on Friday, when it travels to Franklin (17-4, 5-2 HCAC) for the start of a three-game set over the weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 pm, before closing the series with a single game on Saturday at noon.