DC Comes Up Short to Ohio Northern on the Diamond

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Kirk Jesse singled in the eighth inning to take sole possession of second place on DC's all-time hit list with 151, but it was not enough to help the Jackets get past Ohio Northern on Tuesday afternoon. Defiance ended up falling, 6-2, to extend its season-long losing streak to five games. 

Brett Belew (1-2) turned in a strong showing on the Rutter Field mound for the Purple and Gold, scattering eight hits over 7.1 innings and holding the Polar Bears to four runs. Belew also struck out six ONU hitters. 

The DC offense could not capitalize however, as Northern's Craig Leopold (1-1) retired the first 13 batters he faced to open the game. A walk to Keith Wade gave the Jackets their first runner with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and was immediately followed by a perfectly executed hit and run by Alex Timofeev to put Jackets on the corners. Zack Stallkamp then split the left-center field gap for a two-run triple that trimmed the ONU lead to 3-2. 

That would end up being all the runs Defiance would get though, and Ohio Northern tacked on three insurance tallies in the eighth inning to open up the final margin of 6-2. 

Wade had DC's only multi-hit performance with a 2-3 showing at the dish, while scoring once and drawing one walk. Jesse's single moved him past B.J. Moss (1994-1997) and into second place on the program's all-time hit list. Jesse now trails his teammate and current hit leader, Tim Pitro, by just seven hits. 

The Jackets (12-16, 4-8 HCAC) will take the rest of the week off, before hosting Transylvania (17-13, 7-8 HCAC) in a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.