Defiance Defeated by Mount St. Joseph in Series Opener

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College baseball team was defeated by Mount St. Joseph University, 7-0, in the first of three games in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference series.

Mount St. Joseph (19-16, 8-14 HCAC) got the scoring started with three runs in the top of the second inning and then added two more runs in the third to lead 5-0.

The margin remained five runs until the top of the eighth when the Lions plated two additional runs to increase the margin to 7-0.  Defiance (16-18, 9-12 HCAC) tallied six hits in the game, but could not get any runs across home plate as MSJ held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for the 7-0 shutout.

Senior Ben Weber (Troy/Lehman Catholic) led the DC bats with two hits in three attempts.  Sophomore Dom Gentile (Defiance), senior Gary Levengood (Beverly Hills, Fla./Lecanto), freshman Tanner Stippich (Lima/Allen East) and junior Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) also had a base hit each in the loss.

On the mound, junior Dave Blanch (Alliston, Ont./Banting Memorial) started the game and went five-and-a-third innings allowing five runs, three earned, on six hits and had two strikeouts.  He was also credited with the loss and falls to 4-5 overall for the season.  Sophomore Cody Nelson (Clayton, Mich./Hudson) pitched an inning and two-thirds of relief giving up two runs on two hits.  Freshman Josh Wagner (Cincinnati/Taylor) finished the game and allowed no runs or hits to go along with a strikeout in two innings.

The two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow (Saturday, Apr. 30) to conclude the series.  Due to forecasted inclement weather in the afternoon, the first game has been moved up to a 10 a.m. start time.