Yellow Jackets End Season with Split Against Anderson

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College baseball team concluded the 2017 season with a two-game split against Anderson (Ind.) University at Defiance High School on senior day.  The Yellow Jackets captured game one, 7-4, but lost the nightcap, 17-7.

Both teams combined for 21 hits in game one with the DC bats coming up with 10 of those hits.  Junior Glen Collier (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) led the offense with a pair of home runs for two hits in four at-bats to go along with two runs scored and five RBI.  Sophomore Troy Konwinski (Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park) had a game-tying high three hits in addition to two RBI.  

Senior Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) rounded out the multi-hitters with a two-of-three effort and also scored two runs.  He also entered the game with 29 steals on the year and had two steals in game one to set a school single-season record (31).  Reed also tallied a stolen base in game two to end the year with 32 total.

Defiance (14-25, 11-15 HCAC) grabbed the early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Collier's first home run of the day.  Anderson (14-23, 8-16 HCAC) got one of the runs back in the top of the second, but the Yellow Jackets responded with two more runs in the the third thanks to a two-run single by Konwinski, making the score 4-1.

The Ravens chipped away at the DC lead with runs in the fifth and sixth innings to trail by just a run, 4-3.  DC got some breathing room in the eighth when Collier connected on his second homer of the game, this time a three-run shot, to extend the margin to 7-3.

Anderson looked to rally in the ninth and would have runners at second and third base with one out.  Following a sacrifice fly that platted one of the runs, the DC defense got the Ravens to hit into the game-ending popup to seal the 7-4 victory.

Senior Nick Peters (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) got the start for the Jackets on the mound and pitched six innings while giving up three runs on nine hits and had four strikeouts.  He would also end up with the win and ends the season with a 6-4 record.  Sophomore Paris Creek (Bryan) came on to pitch three solid innings in relief and claimed the save after giving up just a lone run on two hits and struck out four batters.

The second game saw no shortage of offense as the two teams combined for 24 runs and 23 hits.  Both scored runs in the first inning with the Ravens scoring once and then the Jackets scoring twice in the bottom of the inning that came on a RBI-double by freshman Everett Kissel (Defiance/Tinora) and a RBI-single by senior Quinten Harrington (Sandusky/Perkins).

Anderson then took control of the game with seven unanswered runs, beginnning with a five-run top of the third and then two more runs in the fourth to make it an 8-2 ball game.

Defiance edged closer in the sixth with two runs on a home run by senior Tre' DeVoe (Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park), his first of his collegiate career, and then added two more runs on another two-run shot in the seventh, this time by Konwinski to make the score 8-6.

The potential rally ended there as Anderson broke the game open with a nine-run top of the eighth to increase the margin to 17-8.  The final run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth when Kissel scored a run on a single that was set up by a triple by Reed earlier in the inning.  The run came a bit too late, however, as the Ravens cruised to the 17-7 final.

DeVoe and Kissel led the DC bats as the only two players to record multiple hits.  Both tallied three hits in the game with DeVoe going three-of-five with a run scored and two RBI.  Kissel also finished three-of-five and also scored a pair of runs and RBI.  

Defiance used five pitchers in the game with senior Dave Blanch (Alliston, Ont./Banting Memorial) getting the start and went three innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on five hits and had three strikeouts.  He was also the picture of record and suffered the loss, ending the season at 1-7 overall.