Jackets fall in conference opener at Rose-Hulman

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Defiance College baseball was bested by one of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's preseason favorites during a league-opening doubleheader on Sunday with losses of 10-2 and 5-3. The contests were moved from their original Saturday date and location from Defiance to Terre Haute due to wet field conditions but Defiance still served as the home squad in both contests.

The Yellow Jackets fall to 3-12 and 0-2 in the HCAC with the third and fourth consecutive losses. The Fighting Engineers, ranked second in the HCAC's preseason poll, added two more in the win column to climb to 9-6 and 2-0 atop the conference standings after the first weekend of league play.

Game 1
Final: Rose-Hulman 10, Defiance 2
Win: Ian Kline (2-2)
Loss: Cohen Nies (2-1)
Save: None
Box Score: Click here

The opening game of Sunday's double dip was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings. Defiance's Cohen Nies (Loss, 2-1) and Rose-Hulman's Ian Kline (Win, 2-2) traded zeroes on the board with the exception of a two-run third by the Engineers.

Nies dodged some traffic on the bases in the first two frames before a one-out solo homer by Andy Krajecki got Rose-Hulman on the board. That was followed up by a double and two singles to create a second run in the frame. Nies dealt with just two more baserunners in his final two innings and departed with DC trailing 2-0 entering the sixth.

For Kline, he settled in to pitch seven one-run frames after Mitchell Roever greeted him with the first of his three hits in the first contest. After a Roever steal of second and Trent Murdock's fielder's choice pushed him to third, Kline retired the next 11 Yellow Jackets until Austin Horning connected on a leadoff single in the fifth. Defiance pushed across an unearned run in his final inning of work when the Engineers' defense committed a pair of errors to start the inning. Kline fanned eight with no walks allowed and held the Jackets to just three hits.

Rose-Hulman opened up the contest with three-run innings in the sixth and seventh. Reliever Tyler Sickmiller had let up just one earned run over his first six outings but was tagged for six total runs, four of which were earned. Three errors piled up on Defiance's defense while the Engineers plated three on four hits. In the seventh, three walks led to Sickmiller's exit as two of three inherited runners handed off to Ethan Jenkins came in to score.

After two more rolled in for Rose-Hulman in the top of the eighth, Defiance catcher Dylan King made Warren Goik pay for a leadoff walk in the last of the ninth to Tyler Dehan when the senior socked an RBI double to wrap up the scoring at 10-2.

Game 2
Final: Rose-Hulman 5, Defiance 3
Win: Alec Lewandowski (2-1)
Loss: Sam Thombs (0-4)
Save: Jonathan Olinger (3)
Box Score: Click here

In the second game, Rose-Hulman's three-run first was the catalyst for the doubleheader sweep. DC starter Sam Thombs recorded the first two outs before a single by Colter Couillard extended the inning. Andy Krajecki worked a walk to bring the five-hole hitter, Ben Christiansen, to the plate and he clocked a three-run home run to build the early lead.

Thombs nestled in and battled through six frames, his longest of the year. The Engineers manufactured two more in the third inning on another two-out rally. Thombs hit a batter, then back-to-back singles led to the fourth run of the ballgame. Their fifth run came moments later when a throwing error by DC catcher Jacob Hild on a stolen base of second allowed another runner to come in unearned. Thombs allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out six while four of his five runs allowed were charged to his line.

The Jacket kept it a ballgame as the offense chipped away and Johnny Hammerstein two-hit the Engineers in relief the rest of the way.

Hammerstein decluttered the bases in the top of the seventh with back-to-back punchouts to end his first inning of relief. He cruised through the eighth with a 1-2-3 inning before working around a hit batter and a single to navigate a scoreless ninth.

Trailing 3-0 in the second, a Dehan double and Josh Vischer single with the help of an error in Rose-Hulman's outfield got DC on the board with two outs. Defiance climbed within three when Gunner Gregg laid into his second homer of the campaign with one out in the fourth. King came up with another ninth-inning double when he pinch hit for Dehan and scored on Vischer's second RBI single of the game to bring DC within two with just one out to play with. Roever flied out to left moments later to cap the sweep of the day.

Defiance plays the first of eight straight games scheduled at Rutter Field on Tuesday afternoon against Terra State. First pitch against the Titans is set for 4 p.m. and will consist of one nine-inning game.

-JACKETS-