Franklin offense erupts in doubleheader over DC

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance Yellow Jackets remain winless through four games of HCAC play following losses of 17-4 and 17-0 to the Franklin Grizzlies at Rutter Field on Monday. Each contest featured one crooked inning that put the contest out of reach and led to the run rule to complete each game after seven innings.

Defiance drops to 2-11 on the season while Franklin improves to 11-6 and the defending HCAC champs bounced back to 2-2 in the league.

Game 1 - Franklin 17, Defiance 4

DC found the scoreboard first and eventually posted a season-high 12 hits, but a 12-run sixth by Franklin plagued the home squad. The Grizzlies grabbed the lead with two runs in the fourth and added three in the fifth before DC got two runs back in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth, Franklin's first 10 hitters reached base safely and that strand was capped off by an Anthony Smith grand slam to make the score 13-3. Defiance pitching issued four walks and hit an additional batter while surrendering nine hits in that inning alone.

Defiance starting pitcher Gavin Bragg twirled four solid innings before getting touched up in the fifth. He held Franklin to just one hit through three innings but a hit batter and double had runners in scoring position with no outs to start the fourth. Both runners came around on a sacrifice fly and a single before Bragg recorded the next two outs.

The Jackets put the ball in play well and were limited to just five strikeouts, but situational hitting did not come through as DC stranded 10 runners on the bases. Defiance led the bases loaded in the first and had at least one in each of the next six frames.

Game 2 - Franklin 17, Defiance 0

The second contest was all Franklin and led to Defiance's first shutout loss of the season. After single runs in the first and second innings, the Grizzlies posted an eight-spot in the third. Defiance starter Aerion Gipson works two outs while three runs came around before a two-out error extended the inning and led to five more unearned runs. The Yellow Jackets issued a season-high 12 walks and combined for six hit batters.

Elisa Marquez pitched three innings for the Yellow Jackets and fanned three hitters over three innings. Aside from three walks and two hit batters, she held the Grizzlies to just one hit, a two-run homer to left field by her second batter faced (Luke Willman) after entering in the fifth. Her outing was the first pitching appearance of her career at Defiance to become the first female to pitch in a baseball game at Defiance College.

BRINGING THE STING

• Four players recorded multiple hits in the first contest: Gunner Gregg (2-for-4), Jack Brubaker-Flood (3-for-4), Trent Murdock (2-for-4), and Mitchell Roever (2-for-3).
• Brubaker-Flood logged his second three-hit game of the season, the most in a contest during his freshman campaign.
• Murdock's two hits were a season-best in his second start of the year.
• Jacob Martinez logged a clean seventh inning during his collegiate debut on the mound.
• Defiance's Game 2 lineup included the first career starts by Zach Stokoe, Keyon Collier, and Ryan Reckner.
• Kolbe VanderLeest, Jaron Gase, and Jacob Davis all connected on their first hits of the season. It was Gase's first hit as a Yellow Jacket while Davis' knock was the first of his college career.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets are back on the diamond on Wednesday with a single road contest at Wright State-Lake Campus. First pitch at Montgomery Field in Celina is scheduled for 4 p.m.

-JACKETS-