Strong outing from Nies gives baseball a split with Manchester

The Defiance baseball team defeated Manchester, 4-2 in the first game of an HCAC doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon before falling to the Spartans, 12-11 in 11 innings in the second game.

The Basics

• Records: Defiance (7-17, 2-8), Manchester (6-19, 3-7)
• Location: Craig A. Rutter Field - Defiance, Ohio
• Attendance: 75
• Game Lengths: Game 1 - 2:23, Game 2 - 3:36

Game 1

Inside The Numbers

• Junior Josh Vischer went 2-3 with a double.
• Senior Nate Kaffenbarger and freshman Jacob Hild each drove in a run.
• Senior Cohen Nies allowed two runs over 7.2 innings while striking out eight to pick up his fourth win of the season.
• Freshman Sam Thombs relieved Nies and didn't allow a hit over the final 1.1 innings to earn the save, the first of his career.
• Brady Perez went 2-3 with a home run for the Spartans.
• Mitchell Baker also tallied two hits.
• Brett Wathen gave up four runs over 4.2 innings and took the loss. 

The Difference

• The Yellow Jackets went up 1-0 after one inning thanks to an RBI double from Kaffenbarger.
• Manchester tied the game off a homer by Perez.
• The Yellow Jackets added two runs in the fourth off a sac fly from Hild and a Spartan wild pitch that scored Vischer. Defiance added another run due to a wild pitch in the fifth.
• The Spartans cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the eighth before Thombs entered and held them off to allow the Yellow Jackets to snap their eight-game skid.
• The Spartans outhit Defiance 7-4 but the Yellow Jackets were able to take advantage of two wild pitches that scored runs.

Game 2

Inside The Numbers

• Freshman Donovon Galovich went 3-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Sophomore Hunter Bostater had two hits, drove in three runs, and scored twice.
• Kaffenbarger also had two hits, doubled, drove in two runs, and scored twice.
• Hild went 2-5 with a double and drove in two runs.
• Senior Lucas Thomeier drew two walks and was hit by a pitch.
• Thombs pitched 3.1 innings in relief and allowed two hits and one run but took the loss.
• Jared Holley had three hits and scored three runs for Manchester.
• Rocco Hanes and Cole Filson each had a pair of doubles and drove in three runs.
• Carter Hooks held DC hitless over three innings and struck out eight to earn the win out of the bullpen.

The Difference

• After the Spartans went up 4-0 after two and a half innings, the Yellow Jackets scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning. The frame featured one run scoring on an error along with RBI singles from Kaffenbarger, Bostater, and sophomore Trent Murdock. Hild also drove in a run with a sac fly during the inning.
• Manchester answered with four runs off of five hits in the top of the fourth highlighted by a massive home run by Holley over the center-field wall.
• Defiance responded with back-to-back-to-back doubles by Vischer, Kaffenbarger, and Bostater that resulted in two runs. Hild drove in another run with a double of his own before Galovich drove in two runs with a single to left field to make the score 10-8.
• No more runs would be scored until the bottom of the seventh when Bostater plated Galovich with a sac fly.
• The Spartans tied the game with three runs in the eighth.
• Manchester took the lead in the top of the 11th inning thanks to a Defiance error and then struck out the side to avoid the Defiance sweep.

Up Next

• The Yellow Jackets will host Anderson in an HCAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 23 with the games at 1 and 3 pm.