DC Baseball Ends Gene Cusic Classic With Pair of Setbacks

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Defiance College baseball team ended its stay in Fort Myers, Florida on Friday with a pair of losses against Haverford. The Jackets fell, 6-1, in the opener, before seeing a 4-0 lead evaporate into a 9-5 defeat in the second game of the afternoon.

Freshman Aaron Helland provided the only damage for the Yellow Jacket sticks in the first game, crossing the plate for DC's lone run of the contest.

The second game provided more excitement, as rookies Helland and Brad Kremer fueled an early 4-0 lead and sophomore hurler, Stephen Leskow, turned in his second strong start of the spring by only allowing one earned run through his first five innings to a lineup averaging 8.5 runs per game in 2011.

Leskow faced just one hitter over the minimum through the first four innings, before running into his first jam of the day in the bottom of the fifth. After the Fords loaded the bases with nobody out, the Defiance, Ohio native fanned the next two on strikes to nearly escape with the 4-0 lead intact. Leskow then induced a weak infield bouncer that should have ended the threat but the Jacket defense could not make the play and allowed a run to score on the error. The misplay was the opening the potent Haverford lineup needed, as it tacked on three more unearned runs to knot the score at 4-4 through five frames.

Momentum would stay on Haverford's side, as DC went in order in the top of the sixth and the Fords ended Leskow's outing by putting their first two hitters  on safely to start the bottom half. The Jacket bullpen was greeted rudely once again, as the next batter delivered a three-run home run and HC added two more to put Defiance in the 9-4 deficit.

Levi Pauli doubled to start a threat for DC in the seventh and later scored to trim the gap to 9-5, but the Jackets could get no closer and suffered the four-run loss to the unbeaten Haverford squad (8-0).

Defiance finished its trip to Fort Myers with an 0-6 record and will now head north to play at Ohio Northern (5-0) on Wednesday at 4:00 pm. The Jackets will then host Grace (5-7) on Thursday in another 4:00 pm start at Craig A. Rutter Field.