Defiance Shuts Out Hanover (Ind.) to End Series

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Senior Aaron Grasing (Carmel, Calif./Carmel) pitched a compete game shutout as the Defiance College baseball team blanked Hanover (Ind.) College, 4-0, to claim the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference series at Craig A. Rutter Field.

Defiance (14-13, 9-9 HCAC) scored its first run in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI single by junior Gary Levengood (Beverly Hills, Fla./Lecanto).  The Yellow Jackets added another run in the second when sophomore Quinten Harrington (Sandusky/Perkins) crossed homeplate on a balk to extend the margin to a pair of runs.  The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the seventh when DC struck again for a run on a RBI single by sophomore Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek).  Levengood then tallied the final run for the Jackets in the eighth on a sacrifice flyout that was set up by a triple by junior Ben Weber (Troy/Lehman Catholic) during the previous at-bat.  Hanover (11-15, 7-11 HCAC) got a runner on base in the top of the ninth, but would not score any runs as DC preserved the shutout and went on to win by the final of 4-0.

Defiance posted seven hits in the game by seven different players.  Levengood finished one-of-two with a pair of RBI.  Harrington ended the game one-of-four with a run scored and Weber also had a one-of-four showing at the plate with a run scored.  Reed had a base hit in three attempts in addition to a RBI.

Grasing picked up his third win of the season to improve to 3-2 overall.  In nine innings, he allowed no runs on five hits and struck out three batters.

Defiance is scheduled to host Manchester (Ind.) University in a HCAC single game on Tuesday (Apr. 21) at Rutter Field.  The game is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.