Baseball to open 2022 season in Tennessee this weekend

The Defiance baseball team will open the 2022 season this weekend when they travel to Tennessee for a three-game series with Sewanee. The series will consist of the doubleheader on Saturday, February 26, and a single game on Sunday.

The Coach: The Yellow Jackets are led by head coach Derek Woodley who is in his 15th season as the Defiance Head Coach. Woodley has guided the Yellow Jackets to three HCAC tournament appearances in his time at Defiance. In 2019 Woodley guided DC to the program's second-most wins (23) in school history.

The Players: A trio of Yellow Jackets in Nate Kaffenbarger, Cohen Nies, and Lucas Thomeier were named to the HCAC Players to Watch list which was released earlier this month.

Kaffenbarger returns after starting all 39 last season and leading the team in hits (40),  home runs (five), doubles (nine), total bases (78), extra-base hits (16), runs batted in (40), and assists (85). Kaffenbarger was named Honorable Mention All-HCAC last season and enters the season already in the Defiance record books for career doubles (28), triples (five), and runs batted in (77) with a chance to further make his mark on program history.

Nies made 12 appearances with 10 starts during the 2021 season and led Defiance in innings pitched (58.2) and strikeouts (57). 18 of the 57 batters Nies struck out went down looking, the seventh-most in the conference last season. Like Kaffenbarger, Nies enters the season already in the Defiance record books as he sits seventh-place in career strikeouts with 184. The honorable mention nod last season was the second of his career having previously received the honor in 2019.

A starting outfielder and leadoff hitter in 2021, Thomeier hit .305 with 11 extra-base hits (eight doubles, two triples, and a home run) and drove in 13 runs. Thomeier finished second on the squad in hits with 46 and paced the team in walks with 26 and stolen bases with eight.

Also returning for the Yellow Jackets are juniors Dylan King, Josh Vischer, Trent Murdock, and Brant Richardson, all of which saw significant action in the Defiance lineup last season. King played in 31 games in 2021 and spent most of them behind the plate. He recorded 12 hits, scored nine runs, and drove in six while throwing out nine runners attempting to steal. Vischer appeared in 34 games during the 2022 campaign and registered 27 hits and 14 RBIs. Murdock appeared in 23 games and recorded nine hits including a home run. Murdock mostly saw time as a corner infielder and recorded nine putouts and 16 assists in the field. Richardson saw action in 27 games and recorded 13 hits while driving in nine runs and drawing 21 walks.

While Nies is only returning starting picture from last season the Yellow Jacket bullpen has senior Tyler Hines returning who led the team with 18 appearances last season. Hines logged 24.1 innings over those 18 appearances and struck out 19 batters. Also returning are senior Kendall Duval who made the third-most appearances with 15 and strict out 17 hitters. John Hammerstein, who made 14 appearances and struck out 13 batters as a freshman last year is another returner for the Defiance bullpen.

Along with the returners, Woodley brought in a large recruiting class of freshmen along with a few transfers. 

The Schedule: Defiance will play a full schedule this spring and will travel down to Florida for the first team since the shortened 2020 season. While down in the Sunshine State the Yellow Jackets will face Lasell, Wisconsin Lutheran, and Skidmore. On their way back from Florida the team will take on Hiram, Pitt-Bradford, and Baldwin Wallace on March 19-20 in a tournament hosted by BW. Other non-conference opponents from Defiance include Ohio Wesleyan on April 13, Adrian on April 20, and Olivet on April 27 with the OWU and Adrian games on the road and the Olivet contest at home.

Broadcasts: All home games will be played at Craig A. Rutter Field and live stats and video can be found on defianceathletics.com.