Defiance Drops Matchup at Taylor

TAYLOR, IND. -- The Defiance College baseball team fell to Taylor (Ind.) University, 11-1, in a rescheduled road matchup on Thursday in their first game after returning from their trip to Fort Myers, Fla.

The Yellow Jackets (4-6) struck first blood in the second inning, when junior Tanner Stippich (Lima/Allen East) drove a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to give Defiance an early 1-0 lead.

Taylor (20-5) took the lead back with two runs in their half of the second inning. After each team went scoreless in the third, the Trojans scored three unearned runs in the fourth to take a 5-1 advantage.

Defiance starting pitcher Troy Konwinski (Allen Park, Mich.) finished his outing with a perfect fifth inning and he exited the game with DC trailing, 5-1.

Freshman Cohen Nies (Logansport, Ind./Lewis-Cass) threw a scoreless sixth frame in relief, before walking the second batter he faced in the seventh and chasing him out of the game in favor of Daniel Tomalak (Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton). Tomalak allowed that walk to score, along with one other in the inning and Defiance trailed, 7-1, through seven. 

The Trojans added four more runs in the eighth inning to hand Defiance an 11-1 defeat.

Leading the Yellow Jacket bats was Stippich, who finished the day 2-for-3 with the solo home run that gave Defiance theeir only run. Senior Glen Collier (Zionsville, Ind.) and junior Garrett Sierra (Defiance) also finished the day with two hits apiece, while sophomore Jude Neary (Toledo/Cardinal Stritch Catholic) reached base with two walks in a losing effort. 

Konwinski dropped his record to 1-1 with the loss, allowing five runs, but only two earned, on six hits with three strikeouts on the day. Nies allowed one earned run, followed by Tomalak, who allowed five runs (four earned) in his inning of work. Freshman Tyler Hines (Cincinnati/Northwest) finished the game with 0.2 innings pitched, allowing a pair of walks, but no runs.

Defiance will open up the home portion of their schedule on Sunday, Mar. 18 with a doubleheader against Albion (Mich.) College. The games have been moved to Defiance High School and are set to begin at 1 p.m.