Baseball drops two close games to Anderson

The Defiance baseball team had comeback attempts fall short in both games of an HCAC doubleheader against Anderson on Saturday. The visiting Ravens won by scores of 8-5 and 7-6.

The Basics

• Records: Defiance (7-20, 2-10), Anderson (16-13, 8-4)
• Location: Craig A. Rutter Field - Defiance, Ohio
• Attendance: 125
• Game Lengths: Game 1 - 3:03, Game 2 - 2:36

Game 1

Inside The Numbers

• Sophomore Mitchell Roever had a good game at the plate and went 3-4 with his first career triple and two RBIs. Roever swiped a base as well.
• Junior Dylan King drove in two runs with his first career home run.
• Cohen Nies took the loss for Defiance.
• Tyler Smitherman and Justin Reed each went 3-5 with a homer. Reed drove in two runs while Smitherman plated one.
• T.J. Price drove in three runs.
• Evan Doan threw four-plus innings out of the bullpen while allowing just one run off four hits and picked up the win.
• Logan Nickel entered in the ninth and picked up the save.

The Difference

• The Ravens took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Price drove in two runs with a single through the left side.
• After a two-out single by senior Alex Morr King belted his first career home run off the scoreboard in left field to tie the game
• Anderson scored three runs off three hits and two errors in the fourth inning.
• With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth Roever drove in a pair with a single up the middle to make the score 5-4.
• The Ravens added two runs in the sixth off a single by price and a double by Brady Reed.
• Justin Reed homered to left field in the seventh to extend the lead to 8-4.
• Roever led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple to left-center and scored on a single by senior Lucas Thomeier.  
• Following Thomeier's single Nickel replaced Doan on the mound and closed the door on the Defiance comeback attempt.
• Anderson outhit Defiance 14-7 and each side made three errors.

Game 2

Inside The Numbers

• Morr went 2-4 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBIs.
• Senior Nate Kaffenbarger and Thomeier each had two hits.
• Murdock drove in two runs with a home run.
• Freshman Sam Thombs recorded the loss.
• Sophomore John Hammerstein threw the final six innings of the contest and allowed just four hits and an unearned run to keep Defiance in the contest.
• Grahm Reedy had three hits for Anderson.
• Smitherman and Stephen Vickery each drove in two runs.
• Kasey Henderson earned the win and Nickel recorded this second save of the day by allowing just one baserunner off an error over three innings while striking out three.

The Difference

• Anderson again got the scoring started with four runs off five hits and two Defiance errors in the top of the first.
• Morr drove in two runs with a double to left field in the bottom of the second and came around to score on a single by Thomeier to make the scorer 4-3. All three runs were scored with two outs.
• The Ravens made the lead 6-3 with two runs in the top of the third.
• A Smitherman sac fly made the Anderson lead 7-3 in the top of the fourth.
• Morr singled to begin the bottom of the fifth and advanced to third of a single by Thomeier. Morr then scored on a double play to cut the lead to 7-4.
• Sophomore Hunter Bostater had a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth and Murdock crushed a homer to left field to cut the deficit to 7-6. 
• Anderson threatened in the top of the seventh with runners on the corners with one out before Hammerstein made a great move to pick off the runner at third and got the next hitter to hit into a fielder choice to end the inning.
• Nickel entered in the bottom of the seventh and held the Yellow Jackets in check over the final three innings.
• Anderson outhit Defiance 12-8 and took advantage of five Yellow Jacket errors.
• The Raven pitchers only allowed one walk in the contest.

Up Next

• Defiance will travel to Ohio Northern tomorrow, Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m. for a non-conference game.