Late-Inning Rally Falls Short For Yellow Jacket Baseball

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College baseball program hosted Anderson University on Friday afternoon in a unique game where DC was deemed the visitors due to the poor playing conditions at Anderson. The Jackets dug themselves into a 9-0 hole before a valiant comeback attempt fell short, as DC lost to the Ravens by a final of 9-6.

The Purple and Gold got off to a lackluster start, while the Ravens enjoyed some timely hitting and great pitching from starter Dan Schmitz. Anderson scored at least one run in each of the first four innings while silencing the DC bats to jump out to a decisive 7-0 lead midway through the game.

The Ravens managed to tack on two more runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 9-0. The Defiance hitters had no answer for Schmitz, as the senior tossed eight innings of shutout baseball.

The Yellow Jacket bats finally woke up in the final frame, as Defiance attempted to pull off an unimaginable comeback. With the squad trailing 9-0, DC's first three batters reached base to start the inning. After a strikeout for the Jacket's first out, Aaron Helland laced a single to center to plate the Purple and Gold's first two runs of the game.

Chris Donese followed with an RBI single and then Darin Waterman ripped a double into the gap in right center, scoring two more and cutting the deficit to four runs at 9-5 with still just one out in the inning. Stephen Yant extended the team hit streak to four with a double to score Waterman and bring the Yellow Jackets within three.

After another Anderson pitching change, Joel Musser and Patrick Masopust drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the dish.

The Ravens then turned to reliever Blake Hall, who came in and extinguished the Purple and Gold comeback bid, as the junior retired the next two batters to secure the victory.

The Yellow Jackets' first three hitters of Helland, Donese and Waterman led the way for the offense on the afternoon, as the trio combined to go 7-14 at the plate with five RBIs.

With the loss, DC's record in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference falls to .500 at 2-2, while its overall record drops to 8-5 on the season. The Jackets are back in action on Saturday, as the team plays games two and three in the series in a doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.