Bluffton Rallies for 10-9 Win Over Jackets

DEFIANCE, Ohio  --  Defiance held an 8-2 lead after six innings of play on Tuesday against Bluffton, but the Beavers rallied for four runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth to steal the 10-9 victory at Rutter Field.

The big inning for Defiance came in the bottom of the third after Bluffton had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half of the frame. Trey Harris started the inning by legging out a triple to the right center gap and by the time the dust had settled, the Jackets had sent 11 men to the plate and scored six runs on six hits.

The Beavers cut into the lead with a single run in the fourth, but Defiance pushed the spread to 8-2 with runs in the bottom half of the fourth and fifth innings. David Jackson worked a one-out walk in the fourth and scored on an Aaron Stewart double. The Jackets then got their eighth run of the game in the fifth after Harris was hit by a pitch and stole second and third base. Kirk Jesse chased home Harris with a single to center that gave DC the six-run lead.

The lead held strong into the seventh, as Brad Timofeev cruised through the fifth and sixth. The junior hurler, who was working on three days rest, then ran out of gas in the seventh and Bluffton put its first six batters of the inning on base, with a force play at second providing the lone out.

Blufftons leadoff man, Tony Moore, started the scoring with a bases-loaded single which ended Timofeevs day and set the stage for the innings big blow. With one run in and the bases still loaded, A.J. Ramthun shot a single into right field that skipped under the mitt of DCs right fielder and allowed all three runners to come around to score.

Patrick McKee then retired the next two BU hitters to preserve the 8-6 lead for Defiance, but Bluffton shut down the DC sticks in the bottom of the seventh and came back with four more runs in the eighth.

A bloop single with one out started the next rally for Bluffton, before a walk put the go-ahead run at the plate. Tim Pitro was brought it to shut down the Beavers, but Corey Conn caught a Pitro fast ball and cleared the fence in right field to give BU the 9-6 lead. The Beavers would tack on another run later in the inning and take a 10-8 lead.

The insurance tally would be crucial, as Defiance mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jesse reached on an error with two outs to bring Pitro to the plate. Pitro delivered with a double to left center to make it a 10-9 game, but BUs Matt Perkins settled down and retired the next batter on strikes to save the one-run win for Bluffton.

Pitro raised his batting average to .398 on the season with a 3-6 game, while Braden Brugler also had a three-hit game to fuel the Yellow Jacket attack. Harris reached base three times, stole two bases and scored twice and Jackson was 1-3 from the cleanup spot with a pair of runs scored.

Despite the hot bats, DC squandered several more chances to push runs across. The Jackets left 13 men on base in the loss, including six in scoring position.

Tyler Sprunger (2-1) got the win for Bluffton after pitching 3.2 scoreless innings and Perkins notched his first save of the year. Pitro (0-1) took the loss on the mound for Defiance.

Defiance will be right back in action on Wednesday night when it plays under the lights at Wittenberg. First pitch is slated for 7:00 pm.