Baseball loses two HCAC games at Anderson

ANDERSON, Indiana – In Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action, the Defiance College baseball team lost two games, 10-9 and 22-12, to the host Anderson University Ravens in a doubleheader on Saturday at Don Brandon Field.

Defiance erased a 3-0 deficit in the opening contest with four runs in the third, but Anderson followed by scoring three times in the bottom of the inning to lead, 6-4. The score was 9-5 after six innings before the Yellow Jackets pulled to within one, 9-8, in the seventh. DC tied things up in the top of the ninth but then allowed an unearned run in the bottom half as the Ravens came away with the win.

The guests outhit AU by a 13-8 margin but had just one extra-base hit, a double, and committed three of the game's four errors. Meanwhile, Anderson tallied two doubles and a home run. Defiance stranded eight base runners, including two in the ninth inning, and the hosts just three.

Michael Reese went 3 for 5 with two runs batted in and a run scored for the Yellow Jackets while Brant Richardson also collected three hits in five at-bats with a pair of RBIs. Lane Good was 2 for 5, driving in two runs while Colin Minner finished 1 for 2 with a double, two walks, a couple of runs scored and an RBI.

On the mound for DC, Cohen Nies started and went six innings with eight strikeouts and two bases on balls. Tyler Hines was the tough-luck losing pitcher, giving up only one hit, one unearned run and one walk with a strikeout over 2.1 innings.

After the first inning of game two, Defiance had a 5-3 advantage but Anderson tied the game in the bottom of the second. The Yellow Jackets regained the lead, 6-5, in the top of the third before the Ravens exploded with eight runs in the bottom half, establishing a 13-6 edge. DC's four-run fifth inning and two-run sixth made it 13-12, but AU responded by scoring seven times in the seventh and twice in the eight to close out the contest.

Anderson totaled 17 hits – including four doubles, three homers and a triple – to Defiance's 10 and each team made two errors. There were 26 walks in the game as the Yellow Jackets' offense drew 14. DC left 12 runners on base and the Ravens six.

At the plate, Minner doubled in a 2-for-3 effort for DC that included two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. Good stroked two hits, one an RBI double while Reese also was credited with a pair of hits and knocked in two runs.

Good was Defiance's starting and losing pitcher, going 2.2 innings with three strikeouts, and took the loss. Four relievers were used out of the bullpen.

The Jackets are 6-27 overall and in HCAC play while AU is 18-15. DC is scheduled to host Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Sunday in a conference doubleheader at 12 p.m.