DC Baseball drops series opener with Hanover

HANOVER, Ind. - The Defiance College Yellow Jacket Baseball team dropped its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference series opener with Hanover College Friday evening, falling 8-4 to the Panthers.

Defiance (8-21, 2-14 HCAC) fell behind to the Panthers (9-16, 5-10 HCAC) in the first inning after Hanover used a RBI single and a three-run home run to go up by four runs. 

The Yellow Jackets answered in the second inning with a run from the bat of Zach Reed, which scored Ben Weber. However, Defiance was unable to answer with anymore runs until late.

Hanover added to its lead in the sixth and seventh innings with a pair of runs in both innings. The Panthers used a fielder's choice followed by a sacrifice fly on back-to-back at bats in the sixth. In the next inning, Hanover used another sacrifice fly and a single a few at bats later to go up 8-1.

Defiance scored three runs in a last-inning surge in the top of the ninth. The Yellow Jackets scored their first run of the ninth when Joe Fabrizio reached on a fielding error and Quinten Harrington, who reached on a hit by pitch to lead off the inning, scored from second.

Ian Burkhart then had a pinch hit RBI single to score Gary Levengood. The final run of the inning came on a fielder's choice by Chris Donese, which scored Fabrizio.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action and look to rebound against the Panthers with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.