Baseball beats HCAC favorite Franklin in extra innings before loss

FRANKLIN, Ind. – Playing a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on the road for the second straight day to start the season, the Defiance College baseball team rallied for a 9-8 win in 11 innings before losing, 14-1, to the Franklin College Grizzlies, who were picked to win the HCAC, on a long Sunday at John P. McDowell Field.

In the third inning of the opener, each squad scored twice before Franklin took a 6-2 lead with a pair of runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Colin Minner's two-run home run got Defiance to within 6-4 in the top of the seventh, but the Grizzlies answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half to up the advantage to 8-4. The Yellow Jackets battled back by scoring three times in the eighth and once in the ninth to force extra innings before Nolan Kestner delivered the game-winning RBI with a one-out single in the 11^th.

DC edged the hosts in hits, 15-13, and FC committed four of the contest's six errors. Franklin left 15 runners on base and Defiance 10. The Yellow Jackets drew eight walks while their pitchers surrendered only three.

Minner ended 2 for 5 with a walk and three runs batted in for DC while Nate Kaffenbarger was 3 for 5 with a triple, walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Other players with multiple hits were Lane Good (2 for 4, two runs scored), Lucas Thomeier (2 for 5, double, two runs scored) and Josh Vischer (2 for 6, RBI).

Michael Reese was Defiance's starting pitcher, giving up two earned runs with three strikeouts over 4.2 innings. Jack Powell, who allowed just three hits with four strikeouts and one walk over the final four innings, picked up the win in relief.

The Grizzlies stormed out to a 6-0 lead in the second game before the Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard with a run in the sixth inning. FC responded in the bottom of the sixth by exploding for eight runs to cap off the scoring before the game was ended because of darkness.

The hosts outhit DC by a 14-4 margin and played error-free defensively. Franklin had six doubles, five stolen bases and its pitchers issued only two bases on balls.

For Defiance, Kaffenbarger stroked a run-scoring double, the club's only extra-base hit, while Minner and Thomeier each went 1 for 2 with a walk. Vischer collected the other hit and scored his team's lone run.

In the pitching department, Daniel Tomalak started and took the loss for the Yellow Jackets. He struck out three in five innings.

DC is 1-3 overall and in conference play while the Grizzlies are 2-2. Next on Defiance's schedule is an HCAC twinbill at Mount St. Joseph University on Saturday. Game one is set at 1 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio.