Baseball Clinches Series With Win Against Bluffton

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Defiance College baseball improved its record to 2-0 against Bluffton University to claim the season series thanks to a 7-2 win in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Craig A. Rutter Field.

Defiance had six hits in the game with two players recording multi-hit games.  Senior Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) and freshman Everett Kissel (Defiance/Tinora) both finished two-of-four at the plate.  Reed also added a run scored, while Kissel scored a pair of runs to go along with a RBI.

On the mound, senior Nick Peters (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) claimed his fifth win of the season going six full innings and allowing just two runs on five hits and had a pair of strikeouts.  Sophomore Paris Creek (Bryan) pitched three scoreless innings in relief to get the save.  He gave up just two hits and had one strikeout.

Bluffton (11-17, 4-12 HCAC) got on the board first with a run in the top of the fourth inning on a wild pitch and then platted another run in the fifth on a fielding error with a runner on third base to make the score 2-0.  Defiance (10-19, 7-9 HCAC) rebounded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by a two-run single by junior Glen Collier (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) with bases loaded giving the Yellow Jackets a 5-2 margin.

The lead remained three runs for DC until the bottom of the eighth when the Jackets crossed home plate two more times thanks to a RBI-triple by Kissel and a ground out by senior Dave Blanch (Alliston, Ont./Banting Memorial) that increased the lead to 7-2.  

Following two quick outs by Bluffton to begin the ninth, the Beavers got a runner on base via a single and then advanced him into scoring position on a wild pitch.  The Defiance defense then recorded the game-ending out on a popup during the next at-bat to seal the game and go on to claim the 7-2 win.

Defiance will next travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to begin a HCAC series against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology on Friday-Saturday, Apr. 21-22.  The two teams will square off in a single, nine-inning game on Friday with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.