Brilliant outing by Thombs awards Jackets first HCAC win of the season

ANDERSON, Ind. – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets snapped a 12-game losing streak behind another solid effort on the mound by sophomore pitcher Sam Thombs (Commerce Township, Mich./Lutheran) to earn the team's first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win of the season during a doubleheader split against the Anderson Ravens at Don Brandon Field on Saturday.

Game 1 Final: Defiance 4, Anderson 2
Box Score: Click here

Thombs (Win, 1-6) earned his first victory of the season by pitching his second consecutive quality start while holding Anderson to two runs on eight hits to go along with a handful of strikeouts and walks over seven innings. He was aided by three double plays over the course of the first five innings as he worked around runners in every inning before handing the ball over to Jeffrey Varga (Save, 1) for the final six outs.

Over his last two starts, Thombs has tossed 15 innings and allowed just two earned runs (1.20 ERA) with 13 strikeouts.

Defiance gave Thombs run support before he stepped on the mound and scored all four runs over the first three innings. Josh Vischer (Genoa, Ohio/Genoa) and Trent Murdock (Liberty Center, Ohio/Liberty Center) set the table with a pair of singles for Hunter Bostater (Ney, Ohio/Fairview) to double in the first run of the game.

Similarly during the second, Jacob Hild (Holly, Mich./Holly) and Tyler Dehan (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry) started off with singles. Anderson picked up the first out of the inning with Hild out on a force at third, but consecutive errors led to runs for DC. Vischer brought in Dehan after a misplay at third which pushed Ethan Jenkins (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) to third, who scored on Murdock's sacrifice fly to left moments later.

In the third, it was Austin Horning (Archbold, Ohio/Pettisville) who delivered an RBI double to trade spots with Gunner Gregg (Graytown, Ohio/Oak Harbor) following a leadoff double.

Anderson posted single runs in the sixth on a pair of doubles off Thombs and in the eighth after two walks and a single loaded the bases to set up a sacrifice fly.

Game 2 Final: Anderson 12, Defiance 2 (7 innings)
Box Score: Click here

The second game of the day and the rubber match of the series was much less climactic with the Ravens run-ruling the Yellow Jackets in seven innings. 

Defiance's offense got started hot with Alex Morr (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) hitting a leadoff triple and scoring on a Vischer single, but a double play halted the momentum. 

Anderson responded with two runs in the home half of the first with four singles off DC starter Blake Bowman (Toledo, Ohio/Start). The Ravens tacked on two more in the second and fourth before knocking Bowman (Loss, 0-2) out after 3.1 innings. He was responsible for the first six runs of the game on nine hits, which included a leadoff home run by Grahm Reedy in the fourth. 

The Ravens posted three runs in each the sixth and seventh to invoke the 10-run rule. Griffin Wolf smacked a two-run homer to highlight inning six while five straight hitters reached on a single or walk in the seventh to eventually end the ballgame.

Vischer was the leading hitter for the Yellow Jackets and went a combined 4-for-8 with two RBIs on the day. The senior has batted 11-for-17 with three RBIs over four games played this week with three multi-hit performances. Hild was the only other hitter to come through with hits in both games and combined for a 3-for-7 showing at the dish.

Defiance is off until Friday when they travel to Earlham for their HCAC weekend series opener which will be a 6 p.m. start at Randal Sadler Stadium.

-JACKETS-