Jackets Score Six in Third Inning, Earn Split at Hanover

HANOVER, Ind.  --  Defiance exploded for six runs in the third inning and Brad Timofeev hurled a complete game on the mound, as the Yellow Jackets notched their first HCAC victory of the season with a 9-3 win at Hanover on Saturday.

The six-run rally started with a one out walk to Trey Harris and back-to-back singles from Kirk Jesse and Ben Gates. After the second out was recorded, the Yellow Jackets put their next four batters on base to blow open the 1-0 game. David Jackson walked to load the bases, before Keith Wade, Brent James and Aaron Stewart all provided RBI hits to push DC to the 6-0 lead.

Hanover got on the board in the bottom half of the third inning, plating a pair of runs to trim the gap to 6-2, but Jesse belted his first career home run in the fourth to push the spread back to 7-2.

The DC lead swelled to 9-2 after another two-out rally scored two more runs in the top of the fifth frame. Harris ignited the rally once again, as he reached on an infield single and stole second. Jesse then drove home Harris with a double to left before coming around to score on a Ben Gates single.

The nine-runs would be more than enough support for Timofeev, who went the distance on the mound for Defiance. Timofeev scattered five hits and one walk over his nine innings of work and struck out five Hanover hitters. Timofeev improved to 2-3 on the year and lowered his earned run average to 3.74 in 33.2 innings of work.

The win helped the Jackets avoid a series sweep at Hanover, after Defiance fell by a 5-2 score in Saturdays first game. The Panthers did their damage early, jumping to a 5-0 lead through the first four innings. The Jackets mounted a small rally in the fifth, as hits from Jesse and Gates scored David Riley and Harris to get DC within three but that would be all it would get.

Jesse and Harris each had four hits in the two games and were the spark plugs for the offense on Saturday. Jesse smacked a home run and a double en route to scoring three times and driving in three more, while Harris scored three runs of his own and stole a pair of bases.

Defiance (5-15, 1-10 HCAC) will be back home on Tuesday when it hosts Manchester (15-14, 8-5, HCAC) in a single game at 4:00 pm.