DC Softball Splits with Pioneers

WILMORE, KY. -- The Defiance College softball team remained above the .500 mark in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, as they defeated Transylvania (Ky.) University in game one, 3-1, but fell in game two, 4-3 at Kirkland Complex in Wilmore, Ky.

Trannsylvania (20-9, 6-2 HCAC) scored their lone run in the opener in the first inning, taking an early 1-0 lead. The Pioneers kept that lead until the sixth, allowing only one hit up to that point. Sophomore Jackie Hartman (Parma/Padua Franciscan) hit a two-out, two-run double to center field, scoring freshman Brooke Gostomsky (Covington) and senior Emily Denhard (Troy, Mich./Kolbe Academy) to put DC (15-12, 4-3 HCAC) ahead, 2-1. Junior Kaity Kuhn (Celina) added a sacrifice fly to score Hartman to put Defiance ahead, 3-1, which would be the final score.

Junior Sarah Kaya (Lorain/Clearview) continued her run of great outings on the mound, pitching the full seven innings and allowing just one run on eight hits.

Offensively, DC mustered just three hits, the big one coming on the two-run double by Hartman.

The Yellow Jackets started game two quickly, as Jordan Osborne (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) led off with a walk and scored on a double by Gostomsky. The next batter, Jackie Hartman, homered over the left field fence to extend the DC lead to 3-0 after an inning of play. The Pioneers rebounded with three runs in the third inning to tie the game at 3-3.

The Pioneers took the lead in the fifth frame with a double and single for a 4-3 margin through five frames. Defiance attempted a rally in the seventh, as Kuhn led off with a single and Haley Patty (Bradford) reached on an error. Transy was able to get the final three outs, however, and earned a split with the 4-3 game two win.

Sophomore Jamie Kimbler (Huber Heights/Wayne) started the game for Defiance on the mound, allowing three runs in just 2.1 innings of work. She was replaced in the third inning by freshman Sydney Zeuch (Mason/Mount Notre Dame) who threw 3.2 innings and allowed one run on five hits. 

Defiance returns to action outside of the HCAC on Monday, Apr. 17 with a doubleheader at Adrian (Mich.) College. The first game is set for 4 p.m. in Adrian, Mich.