Baseball Opens HCAC Weekend Series with Win

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College baseball team began a three-game series against Hanover (Ind.) College with a 14-7 victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at Craig A. Rutter Field.

Defiance (8-5, 1-0 HCAC) scored runs in the first six innings of the game which began with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on a two-RBI single by junior Quinten Harrington (Sandusky/Perkins) for the early 2-0 lead.  The two teams traded runs in the second with the Yellow Jackets' score coming on a sacrifice fly by senior Ryan Kohlhofer (Walbridge/Lake) that was set up by a lead-off triple by freshman Tanner Stippich (Lima/Allen East) to begin the inning.  

DC padded its lead in the bottom of the third with three runs highlighted by a RBI-single by Stippich, increasing the margin to 6-1.  Defiance continued to add to its lead with two runs in the fourth thanks to a two-RBI single by senior Ben Weber (Lima/Lehman Catholic) with runners on second and third base.

Hanover (3-11, 0-2 HCAC) made a dent in the DC lead crossing the plate three times in the fifth, but the Jackets answered with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning that included RBI base hits by sophomore Dom Gentile (Defiance) and senior Gary Levengood (Beverly Hills, Fla./Lecanto) and a two-RBI single by Weber making the score 12-4.  The final runs for DC came in the bottom of the sixth on another sacrifice fly by Kohlhofer and a passed ball to give the Jackets a commanding 14-4 advantage.

The Panthers scored the final three runs of the game with a score in the eighth and two more in the ninth, but time was not on the Panthers' side and the possible rally ended there as Defiance went on to post the 14-7 final.

Defiance recorded 13 hits with Stippich finishing three-of-five to go along with two runs scored and a RBI to lead the way.  Kohlhofer, Levengood, Weber and junior Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) all ended the game two-of-four at the plate.  Kohlhofer also scored a run and had two RBI, while Levengood scored a pair of runs and a RBI in addition to his two hits.  Weber crossed homeplate once and drove in a game-high four runs and Reed scored two runs.

Junior pitcher Dave Blanch (Alliston, Ont./Banting Memorial) pitched eight innings and got the win to improve to 3-2 overall for the season.  In the eight innings, he allowed five runs, none earned, on six hits and had four strikeouts.  Freshman Tyler Davie (Cincinnati/Anderson) came on to pitch the final inning and gave up two runs on two hits.

Defiance will square off against Hanover tomorrow with a HCAC doubleheader to wrap-up the series.  The first game is set to begin at noon at Rutter Field.