Defensive Miscues Cost DC Baseball Pair of Games

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Defiance allowed just four earned runs in a pair of contests against Wooster and Wilmington on Thursday afternoon but committed 12 errors on the day and lost 8-1 to Wooster and 11-6 to Wilmington.

The Jackets hung tough against the preseason No. 8 team in the nation, as they trailed Wooster by only one run entering the seventh inning. The Fighting Scots took control late however, capitalizing on the shaky DC defense to take the 8-1 victory.

Defiance scored its lone run of the afternoon in the top of the fifth inning when Casey Kahsen singled and later scored on a Nick Welling double. The run drew DC even at 1-1 but would be all the offense the Jackets could muster.

Alex Timofeev had the only other hit of the game for Defiance, who suffered the loss after scoring one run on three hits and committing four errors which led to five unearned runs.

Aaron Stewart (0-1) pitched well in the loss, tossing 6.1 innings and scattering eight hits. Nate White worked the final 1.2 innings for DC, allowing two hits and four unearned runs.

The defense continued to hurt Defiance in the second game, as eight Yellow Jacket fielding blunders opened the door to 10 unearned runs for Wilmington and led to the 11-6 defeat.

DC racked up six runs on 13 hits in the loss, as Michael Dushane collected three hits and three runs batted in, Keith Wade rapped out three hits and Alex Timofeev added two hits and an RBI.

A pair of freshmen hurlers pitched well in relief, as Brett Belew and Todd Odell combined to hold the Quakers to zero earned runs and four hits in 6.2 innings of work.

Defiance (3-5) will round out its eight-game stay in Port Charlotte on Friday, when it plays Becker at 8:00 am and Benedictine at 11:30 am.