Defiance falls to Ohio Northern 5-4 in midweek clash

ADA, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets Baseball team was defeated 5-4 Wednesday afternoon by Ohio Northern in a tightly contested midweek clash between the in-state rivals.

The Yellow Jackets (7-8) overcame an early 3-run deficit to the Polar Bears (11-3) with four runs in the middle innings, but Ohio Northern responded with two unanswered runs and held on for the narrow victory.

After Ohio Northern scored a run in the bottom of the first and added two more in the fourth via a two-run home run, Defiance scored a pair of runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead.

Aaron Helland started off the fifth inning with a lead-off single up the middle. After advancing to second on a balk, Helland took third base on a Chris Donese single up the middle. Then, the two runners advanced another base after the second balk of the inning, allowing Helland to score and Donese to move into scoring position.

Ryan Kohlhofer followed it up with a single to left field, pushing Donese just 90 feet from DC's second run. Zack Reed brought Donese home after reach on a fielder's choice that left Kohlhofer out at second base.

Ohio Northern responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth, which pushed the Polar Bears lead to 4-2.

In the sixth inning, Joel Musser started the offense for DC with a one-out single through the right side. Musser then stole second, but first base was quickly occupied with a walk by Quinten Harrington.

Harrington was caught out at second on a fielder's choice in the next at bat, which moved Musser to third and put Helland on first. After a steal by Helland to put two runners in scoring position for DC, Donese put a ball in play that allowed Musser to score from third after an error by the first baseman.

Kohlhofer tied the game up at four in the next at bat, pushing the ball through the left side for a base hit, allowing Helland to score from third. Defiance was unable to score again though, stranding two Yellow Jackets.

Defiance's offense struggled from that point, as the Yellow Jackets were retired 10 straight to end the game.

Ohio Northern was able to retake the lead in the seventh, capitalizing on an error by DC that allowed a run to come around and score from first base on a single.

Nick Watkins picks up the loss for Defiance, despite not giving up an earned run.

Two major streaks continued for Defiance players on the day. Darin Waterman Waterman went 0-for-3 on the day, but did reach base with a hit-by-pitch extending his reached base streak to 36 games dating back to the 2013 season.

Kohlhofer, who was the only Yellow Jacket with multiple hits on the day, did not strikeout in five plate appearances on the day. His streak to start the year was extended to 58 total plate appearances without a strikeout. He has registered 48 official at bats with every one resulting in a ball in play to go along with nine walks and a sacrifice fly. He has an on-base percentage of .397 during the run.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Saturday with the first game in a three-game series against Transylvania to open up the home schedule. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Rutter Field.