Resilient Yellow Jackets fall just short to Rose-Hulman in thrilling 11-10 series opener

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets rallied back from down 10 runs and had the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning but fell in a thrilling 11-10 contest to the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers on Saturday.

The furious comeback started with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Trent Murdock snapped a string of 10 straight batters retired by Rose-Hulman pitcher Michael Yager with a double down the left field line. Gunner Gregg worked a walk to keep the line moving to Connor Gephart, who lined his sixth homer of the season over the left field fence. Gephart's three-run blast extended his on-base streak to 21 games. 

After the Engineers got a run back with a homer in the top of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets erupted for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. Tyler Dehan plated the first two runs of the rally on a double to deep left-center before scoring on Jacob Hild's single to left. DC didn't let up after that when Murdock worked a walk, Gregg got hit by a pitch, and Gephart drew a bases-loaded walk. Following a sac fly off Kolbe VanderLeest's bat, Mitchell Roever nearly missed a game-tying home run but put the Jackets within one run on a double off the right field wall. In the ninth, Gregg connected for a leadoff single but was stranded there after Rose-Hulman made a pitching change for Jonathan Oliger, who locked down the final three outs.

Rose-Hulman got the scoring started with a single run in the first. Kade Kline smacked a leadoff triple and scored on Peter Rogers' RBI single on the next pitch. DC starter Josh Gase bounced back with a 4-6-3 double play and a flyout to center to get out of the inning with just one run allowed.

A six-run third built up Rose-Hulman's large lead and was highlighted by a pair of two-run singles from Colter Couillard-Rodak and Dalton Busboom. Out of five hits in the inning, the Fightin' Engineers connected for a pair of extra-base hits in the frame and led to Gase being replaced on the hill by Carter Kennon. After a single run in the fifth, Rose-Hulman grabbed a pair of two-out runs to make it a 10-0 score.

Gephart matched a season-high four RBIs with his home runs plus a walk. Roever went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to lead the offense in hits for the day. Gregg worked his way on base three times thanks to a pair of walks and a ninth-inning single. Jeff Varga had the pitching staff's best performance when he tossed a pair of scoreless innings to keep the Jackets within one run during the late stages. Rose-Hulman's Michael Yager held on for the winning decision after he held DC scoreless over the first 5.2 innings and carried a one-hitter into the sixth.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets and Fightin' Engineers finish their series with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. at Defiance High School.

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