Defiance Bests Grizzlies in Game One Pitcher’s Dual

DEFIANCE, Ohio – On a cold and windy afternoon at Defiance College, the Yellow Jacket baseball team hosted the Franklin Grizzlies in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup between two sides fighting for position in the standings. DC pulled out a tough 3-2 win to even its conference mark at 6-6.

Most of the offensive production from both sides came in the first frame. The Grizzlies used three hits in the top of the first to score what turned out to be their only two runs of the game.

Defiance immediately responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the opening inning, as the Yellow Jackets tied the game. The Purple and Gold began the inning with a Chris Donese walk followed by Joel Musser getting hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs.

The three hitter Darin Waterman stepped up to the plate and laced a double into left field to plate Donese and move Musser to third. Later in the inning, Andy Habecker grounded into a double play to score Musser and knot the game up at 2-2.

After the first, Waterman settled in on the bump and dominated the Grizzly bats. The junior gave up just two hits over the next five innings to finish the day with six innings pitched with eight strikeouts, while allowing two runs on five hits and seven walks.

The Jackets scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third inning. Musser led off the inning by reaching on a strikeout when the ball got away from the catcher. Waterman and Masopust groundouts moved the right fielder to third with two outs. Musser then scored his second run of the day off a wild pitch to put DC up 3-2.

The Purple and Gold's three runs in the first three frames came off just one Defiance hit.

Franklin starter Chris Hoopingarner tossed a great game in defeat for the visitors. The pitcher went the distance and finished with a line of eight innings and seven strikeouts while giving up two earned runs on five hits and four walks.

The DC bullpen shut the door on the Franklin bats, as Aaron Patterson pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth inning and then Alex Schomaeker recorded a perfect ninth to grab his seventh save of the year.

The mark of seven saves ties the senior for the DC single-season record for saves in a season. The record comes one week after Schomaeker became Defiance's all-time career saves leader with 12 in his Yellow Jacket career.

With the victory the Jackets regular season record improves to 13-9 and 6-6 in conference play. The Purple and Gold is back in action on Sunday for games two and three of the season series against the Grizzlies. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.