DC Blanks Franklin to Open Series

FRANKLIN, IND.  --  The Defiance College baseball team began its three-game weekend series against Franklin (Ind.) College with an 8-0 shutout in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action at John P. McDowell Field in Franklin, Ind.

Defiance outhit Franklin, 12-2, with senior Gary Levengood (Beverly Hills, Fla./Lecanto) setting the pace going four-of-five with three runs scored and two RBI.  Fellow senior Ben Weber (Troy/Lehman Catholic), junior Quinten Harrington (Sandusky/Perkins) and sophomore Dom Gentile (Defiance) also had a pair of hits with Weber going two-of-three to go along with a RBI.  Harrington and Gentile both ended the day two-of-four at the plate with Harrington adding two runs scored and two RBI, while Gentile also scored a pair of runs.

Defiance (11-10, 4-5 HCAC) took an early sizeable lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning highlighted by a RBI-single by Weber.  The Yellow Jackets then paded their lead in the second with another run thanks to a RBI-single by Levengood to make the score 4-0.

Franklin (9-13, 4-5 HCAC) recorded back-to-back-to-back outs in the first four innings and did not post its first hit of the game until the top of the fifth inning.  In the bottom of the fifth, DC got the offense going again, plating a pair of runs following a sacrifice fly by freshman Michael Gilliland (Napoleon) and a RBI-base hit by fellow freshman Tanner Stippich (Lima/Allen East) that increased the margin to 6-0.  

The final runs of the game came in the eighth when Defiance scored on a RBI-single by Levengood and a RBI-double by Harrington.  The Jackets then made it a short top of the ninth to preserve the 8-0 shutout.

Junior Dave Blanch (Alliston, Ont./Banting Memorial) pitched a complete game to get the win and improve to 3-1 overall for the season.  In nine innings, he allowed no runs and just two hits to go along with four strikeouts.

The two teams are scheduled to play a HCAC doubleheader tomorrow (Sunday, Apr. 10) at McDowell Field.  The first game is slated to begin at 11 a.m.