Baseball drops opener at Mount St. Joseph

CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets baseball team fell to Mount St. Joseph College 7-1 Friday night in the opening game of a three-game series set for this weekend.

The Yellow Jackets (7-13, 1-6 HCAC) trailed 3-1 late, but Mount St. Joseph (8-11-1, 3-5 HCAC) added four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull away for the game one victory.

Defiance made a strong attempt to close the gap in the ninth inning, loading the bases, but the Yellow Jackets were unable to get the timely hit that would close the gap.

The first three innings were scoreless as Aaron Grasing (L, 1-3) and Alex Cole (W) held the offenses in check. However, Mount St. Joseph was able to strike first in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs.

With the bases loaded, MSJ was able to get a two-RBI base hit that put Defiance in a hole.

The Yellow Jackets were able to answer two innings later in the top of the sixth. Ryan Kohlhofer reached on a fielder's choice that resulted in the first out of the inning. After a fly out, Kohlhofer stole second to reach scoring position, which proved beneficial.

In the next at bat, Gary Levengood hit a ball toward shortstop and a fielding error by the shortstop allowed Kohlhofer to reach home for DC's only run in the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mount St. Joseph added a third run to increase the lead back to two runs. Mount St. Joseph added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eight, capitalizing on an error by Defiance that allowed for three of the four runs to score unearned.

Defiance was able to load the bases in the ninth with a hit by pitch, followed by a walk and a single with two outs. However, DC was unable to generate anymore offense.

Aaron Helland and Zack Reed each had two hits in the game. Both teams finished with eight hits, but Defiance had five errors to MSJ's one.

Grasing allowed just one earned run in a six inning outing. Mount St. Joseph had just three hits against Grasing and two runs.

The Yellow Jacket will look to rebound on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for a noon start at Marge Schott Stadium.