Jackets Defeated By No. 8 Heidelberg

TIFFIN, OHIO  --  Both teams combined for 34 hits, but the slugfest went in favor of the opponent as the Defiance College baseball team lost to No. 8 nationally-ranked Heidelberg University, 16-5, in a non-conference single game in Tiffin.

Offensively, Defiance (12-12) had four multi-hit performances with all four players accounting for 12 of the team's 15 hits in the game.  Junior Ryan Kohlhofer (Walbridge/Lake) went a perfect four-of-four with a pair of runs scored and a RBI.  Sophomores Tre' DeVoe (Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park) and Nick Watkins (Lima/Central Catholic) both finished three-of-five.  DeVoe also had a team and game-tying high three RBI and Watkins also scored a run.  Senior Chris Donese (Kettering/Fairmont) posted a two-of-four effort in addition to scoring a run.

Heidelberg (22-5) got the offense going early scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning and three more runs in the second.  DC got on the scoreboard in the third with three runs that included a two-RBI single by DeVoe and a RBI groundout by junior Gary Levengood (Beverly Hills, Fla./Lecanto) with runners at second and third to cut the deficit to 5-3.  But the Student Princes shattered the momentum by scoring five runs in the fourth to blow the game open, 10-3.  Both teams traded runs in the sixth with the Yellow Jackets' score coming on a RBI single by DeVoe.  DC scored what turned out to be its final run in the top of the seventh thanks to a RBI single by Kohlhofer.  Heidelberg then put the game away in the bottom of the inning with its second five-run frame to cruise to the 16-5 final.

Six players saw playing time at pitcher for the Jackets with senior Joel Musser (Center Line, Mich./Center Line) getting the start.  Musser pitched two innings and allowed five runs on six hits and had one strikeout.  He would end up as the pitcher of record and is now 0-1 overall.  

Defiance is scheduled to host Hanover (Ind.) College in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference three-game series beginning on Saturday (Apr. 18) with a pair of games at Craig A. Rutter Field.  The first game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.