Jackets Drop Doubleheader Against Bluffton

BLUFFTON, OHIO  --  The Defiance College softball team lost both games of a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Bluffton University, 7-0 and 10-2 in five innings, in Bluffton.

In game one, Defiance (5-17, 1-7 HCAC) recorded just two hits and Bluffton (17-12, 4-2 HCAC) took advantage with 11 base knocks.  The Beavers opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning and then added three more scores in the third to lead, 4-0.  The deficit remained four runs for Defiance until the bottom of the sixth when Bluffton put the game away with three more runs that included a pair of solo homeruns as the Beavers went on to post the 7-0 shutout.

The two hits for the Yellow Jackets came off the bats of freshman Brianna Caldwell (Marion/Elgin) and sophomore Megan Warren (Mason).  Caldwell ended the game one-of-three and Warren went one-of-two.

Freshman Sarah Kaya (Lorain/Clearview) pitched a complete game, but suffered the loss and drops to 2-8 overall.  She allowed seven runs on 11 hits and struck out three batters.

In the nightcap, Defiance struck first with a run in the top of the first on a RBI ground out by Warren with runners on first and second base.  The Jackets led until the fourth inning when Bluffton broke the game open with a seven-run inning that included a two-RBI homerun.  DC tallied one more run in the fifth on a foul out by junior Makayla McAvoy (Mt. Gilead) to make the score 7-2.  But Bluffton sealed the win crossing the plate three times in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run homer to put the eight-run rule into effect and go on to the 10-2 final.

DC finished game two with four hits by four different players.  Caldwell, Warren, senior Brittany Shough (DeGraff/Riverside) and freshman Paige Huttenlocker (Jackson, Mich./Grass Lake) all had a base hit in two at-bats.  Warren also scored a RBI, while Huttenlocker added a run scored.

Freshman Haley Patty (Bradford) got the start for DC and pitched the entire game, but gave up 10 runs, six earned, on 10 hits.  With the loss, she is now 1-6 overall.

DC is scheduled to play its next six games at home beginning with a HCAC doubleheader against Anderson (Ind.) University on Saturday, Apr. 11 at Sal Hench Field.  The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.