Fast Start Propels Jackets to 14-5 Win at Earlham

RICHMOND, Ind. – Defiance College batted around in the top of the first inning and tacked on six unearned runs in the second for an 11-0 lead and never looked back en route to the convincing 14-5 victory at Earlham on Wednesday night.

DC sent nine men to the plate in the opening frame and plated five, before capitalizing on three Earlham errors in the second to extend the lead to 11-0. A Casey Kahsen homer in the third pushed the spread to 12-0 and sent the Yellow Jackets on the way to their fourth win in their past five contests.

Keith Wade paced the 14-hit attack by going 3-5 with two runs scored and four driven in. Kahsen, Alex Timofeev and Bryn Lehman also had multi-hit games and Kirk Jesse scored four times and racked up three stolen bases to push his season total to 17 steals in as many tries.

Defiance used five pitchers to cover the nine-inning game and saw Brett Belew (1-1) earn the victory by tossing three scoreless frames. Patrick McKee and Jason Farr also had scoreless showings out of the bullpen.

The Yellow Jackets improve to 12-11 overall with the non-conference victory and will now shift back into Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action for a weekend series against Anderson (16-11, 7-4 HCAC). The three-game set will begin on Friday with a single game at Craig A. Rutter Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 4:00 pm.