Defensive Miscues Cost DC Against Transylvania

DEFIANCE, Ohio  --  Defiance played its first home contests of the season on Saturday, falling 6-2 and 8-2 to Transylvania at Craig A. Rutter Field. The Jackets had a pair of strong pitching performances from starters Nick Picciano and Brad Timofeev, but committed seven errors which led to eight unearned runs on the afternoon.

Defiance rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the opener, plating two runs with two outs in the fourth inning. Matt Kaighin started the rally by reaching first after striking out on a wild pitch. Keith Wade then reached on an error, before Brent James laced a two-run double to left field to tie the score at 2-2.

The Jackets gave the momentum right back in the top of the fifth after starting the inning with two-straight errors. A hit batter loaded the bases with one out, before Phil Blakely singled to center to continue the rally. The ball then skipped past Trey Harris for DCs third error of the inning and all three runners came around to score. Blakely would later score on another TU hit to push the spread to 6-2.

That would end up being the final margin, as Transys ace hurler, Adam Wilkins, went the distance and improved to 6-0 on the season. Picciano (0-4) took the hard-luck loss after holding the Pioneers to only two earned runs in six innings and piling up eight strikeouts.

The DC offense was kept off balance for the entire seven innings by Wilkins and only mustered three hits. Kaighin and Wade scored the only two runs and each had a hit, while James provided the third hit.

The Pioneers broke open a scoreless tie in the second game with a five-run outburst in the third. Defiance added tallies in the fourth and sixth, but came up on the wrong end of the 8-2 final.

Ben Luking (5-1) went the distance for TU, while Brad Timofeev (1-2) yielded three earned runs in five innings and seven runs in all. Tim Henneman and Nate White were solid in relief for Defiance, going the final three innings and holding Transylvania to just one run on one hit.

Tim Pitro went 2-4 with a home run to lead the Yellow Jacket offense, while Wade and Kaighin also had multi-hit games.

Defiance falls to 4-11 and 0-6 in the HCAC with the losses on Saturday and will try again for its first league victory on Sunday. DC will host Transylvania (15-6, 3-3 HCAC) in a single game starting at 11:00 am.