Behrman, Gephart lead Yellow Jackets to first win of the season

ELGIN, Ill. – The Defiance Yellow Jackets were carried by a seven-run fourth inning to win game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 10-6, against the Judson Eagles to earn their first victory of the 2024 season. The win also marked the first win at Defiance for new head coach Shane Gardner and snapped a 19-game losing streak for the program. In Game 2, the Eagles defeated the Yellow Jackets 7-6 fueled by a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.

Game 1

Aiden Behrman (Deshler, Ohio/Patrick Henry) was solid in his second start of the year and held the Eagles to three runs and three hits over five innings of work. En route to the winning decision, Behrman did not allow a hit over the first three innings of the contest.

The scoring started in the Eagles' half of the third when Jude Ruddy grounded out to plate the first run of the game. DC responded back in the fourth inning when Alex Rodriguez III (Toledo, Ohio/Waite) grounded out for an RBI. Later in the fourth, a pair of singles by Tyler Dehan (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry) and Mitchell Roever (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) created another run. Following a walk to Jack Brubaker-Flood to load the bases, Connor Gephart (Lima, Ohio/LCC) cleared the deck with a grand slam to left field capping off the Jackets' seven-run fourth inning.

The Eagles struck back in both the fourth and fifth innings when Jake Angelo homered to center field and Kyle Schwartz doubled in another run. Angelo's homer broke up Behrman's hitless start to lead off the fourth. The Jackets responded with insurance runs in the sixth and seventh, which were all unearned. Judson's Jude Ruddy homered to start the bottom of the seventh, but Carter Kennon (Mount Gilead, Ohio/Mount Gilead) shut the door to pick up the final three outs and the save.

Game 2

The Yellow Jackets held leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the second game but a late Judson rally tied the game in the sixth before taking the lead for good in the seventh.

Blake Bowman (Toledo, Ohio/Start) gave the Yellow Jackets 5.1 solid innings, enduring seven hits and five runs (four earned). He was given run support early when Jack Brubaker-Flood (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central) singled home Roever. Jacob Hild (Holly, Mich./Holly) delivered a big shot two batters later with a double to right that scored a pair. Gephart and Hild each delivered run-scoring hits in the fifth inning to put DC up 5-2.

Judson picked up an unearned run off Bowman in the fifth and tied the game 5-5 in the sixth facing DC's Gabriel Kelly (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego). The first hitter doubled in the bottom of the seventh before Giovanni Davila uncorked the eventual game-winning home run, a two-run blast to left field. DC got one run back in the eighth and had the go-ahead run on base in the ninth before a double play ended the contest.

BRINGING THE STING

• Freshman Aiden Behrman earned his first collegiate win with a career-high five innings, the most by a Defiance starting pitcher.
• Freshman Connor Kennon picked up his first career save in the Jackets' first save opportunity of the year. It was Kennon's second outing of the season.
• Connor Gephart's grand slam boosted his season home run total to a team-best three to complement a team-best 10 RBIs. He went 3-for-7 with five RBIs for the day.
• Jack Brubaker-Flood drove in a pair during the seventh inning to give him RBIs in back-to-back games. The freshman also swiped two bases in the win before going 2-for-4 in Game 2 to total 3-for-7 with three RBIs.
• Jacob Hilds's three-RBI game in Game 2 were a career-high. He went 3-for-5 in the doubleheader.
• DC's eight hits and 10 runs were a season-best while eight different players recorded hits.

UP NEXT

Defiance wraps up their visit to Judson with another doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET from Illinois.

-JACKETS-