DC Drops Non-Conference Clash to Trine

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Kirk Jesse homered and knocked out three hits on Wednesday afternoon but it was not enough, as Defiance fell, 13-4, to Trine in a midweek non-conference matchup. The home run was the first of the season for Jesse.

The Jackets sent nine pitchers to the mound in the loss and used the strategy to keep the Trine bats off balance throughout much of the game. The Thunder broke loose in the seventh however, rallying for nine runs to break open the game.

Prior to the nine-run outburst, Defiance had narrowed a 4-0 deficit to a single run with three scores in the bottom of the sixth inning. The one-out rally was started by consecutive hits off the bats of Nick Welling, Tim Pitro and Jesse to load the bases. Alex Timofeev then smacked a two-out single to cut the Trine lead in half and a dropped pop up then allowed Jesse to come around to score DC's third run of the frame.

The momentum for Defiance would be short lived however, as Trine countered with the nine spot in its next at bat to take a commanding, 13-3, advantage. Jesse's homer to left-center field in the eighth capped the scoring and closed out the highlights in the 13-4 defeat.

Jesse was the story on offense for the Yellow Jackets, going 3-5 with a home run and two runs scored. The big day raised Jesse's batting average for the season to a hefty .377. Michael Dushane also had a multi-hit game, collecting a pair of hits in five trips to the plate.

Defiance (4-13, 1-3 HCAC) will continue its five-game homestand on Friday when it hosts Franklin (9-6, 2-2 HCAC) at 4:00 pm. The game will be the first of three with the Grizzlies, preceding a twinbill on Saturday beginning at 12:00 pm.