Transylvania Stops Defiance in Doubleheader

LEXINGTON, KY. -- The Defiance College baseball team fell, 10-5, in the opener and, 3-2, in the nightcap in a pair of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchups at Transylvania (Ky.) University on Sunday.

The Pioneers (13-11, 4-2 HCAC) struck first in game one with two runs in the second inning to take an early lead. DC (7-12, 1-5 HCAC) waited until the fifth inning to get the offense going with an RBI double down the left field line by freshman Lucas Thomeier (Wickliffe) cut the deficit to 2-1. After a single by sophomore Jon Brown (Haskins/Otsego) moved Thomeier to third, junior Grant Vickery (Bellevue) knocked him in with a fielder's choice to tie the game. Junior Garrett Sierra (Defiance) loaded the bases with a single, leading to a sac fly from junior Michael Gilliland (Napoleon) to give DC a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

Transylvania scored tied the game at 3-3 with a run in the fifth and took a 4-3 lead with another tally in the sixth. The top of the seventh saw junior Garrett Sierra (Defiance) get a one-out single up the middle before he stole second and scored on a single by Gilliland to tie the game back at 4-4.

Transylvania responded with three runs in both the seventh and eighth inning to take a commanding 10-4 lead. The Yellow Jackets staged a brief ninth inning rally that saw senior Glen Collier (Zionsville, Ind.) knock an RBI single into left to score Brown, but DC would drop the game by a score of 10-5.

Konwinski threw 4.1 innings in a no-decision, allowing just one earned run (three total runs) on six hits, despite allowing six walks. DC five different relievers from there, with senior Parker Houk (Montpelier) being the lone Yellow Jacket not to allow a run, as he got the last two outs of the sixth.

DC scattered 12 hits as a team, with four guys gathering two hits. Sierra and Collier both went 2-for-5, while Thomeier and Brown each finished the afternoon 2-for-4. Gilliland also led Defiance with a pair of RBI, while Brown scored two runs in the loss.

The Yellow Jackets started game two on a better note than game one, as they opened the scoring in the top of the first, as Collier walked and Konwinski knocked him in with a double to right field to give Defiance an early 1-0 edge.

Transy responded with runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-1 lead after three frames, but Defiance came right back in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Ben Bucklew (Archbold) reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to third on a single by Thomeier. Brown went on to get a sacrifice fly into right field to tie the game at 2-2. 

The game remained tied at 2-2 until the bottom of the eighth, when the Pioneers scored after sophomore Will Bohlman (Centerville) walked a batter who went around to score on a base-hit to make it a 3-2 score. Defiance then could not score in the ninth, as they dropped the back half of the doubleheader.

Bohlman threw his first complete game in his career for the Purple and Gold, throwing eight innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits. He walked six while striking out two Pioneers, but dropped his record to 0-2.

The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by Konwinski, who went 2-for-4 with the RBI double.

Defiance is set to return to action on Wednesday, Apr. 11 as they step out of conference play and travel to Delaware, Ohio for a matchup with Ohio Wesleyan University. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Littick Field.