Varga leads dominant shutout win over Wright State-Lake

CELINA, Ohio - Senior pitcher Jeffrey Varga flirted with a no-hitter in a dominant, seven-inning effort for while the Defiance Yellow Jackets' offense supplied plenty of run support in a 14-0 victory over the Wright State-Lake Lakers at Montgomery Field on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets (8-12, 1-1 WHAC) picked up the team's second shutout in three games and have won 5 of 7 ballgames while dropping the Lakers to 3-8 on the campaign.

Varga held the Lakers hitless until the seventh inning when Cade Meade lined a one-out single to left field. Brady Hobert followed with a single to account for Wright State-Lake's final hit of the game. Despite those two knocks, Varga allowed just three others baserunners on a walk and two hit batters, both wore by Meade.

Defiance gave Varga all the runs he needed before he took the mound thanks to a two-out single by by Anthony Silvera Jr.. The Jackets added single runs in the second and third as well with a safety squeeze by Tim Bobek in the second and another Silvera single in the third. 

With Varga in rhythm, the Yellow Jackets tacked on three in the fourth inning with the help of the first of six Laker errors. The offenses churned out eight more runs in the late innings, which was highlighted by a five-run eighth that included three miscues by WSU-Lake. 

Varga handed the scoreless effort over to fellow senior Tyler Sickmiller in the eighth, who tossed a clean inning with two strikeouts. For the ninth, freshman Caiden Berry made his collegiate debut and worked a 1-2-3 inning to finish the shutout.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Jeffrey Varga tossed a career-high seven innings in his sixth outing of the season, earning his first-career quality start. His afternoon included a strand of eight straight hitters retired.
• On the offensive side, Defiance's 14 runs were the second time this season scoring double figures while also connecting on a season-high 15 hits.
• Jacob Hild supplied four hits on the afternoon with one RBI. He also picked up his pitcher with two runners thrown out on the bases. 
• Anthony Silvera Jr. also had a four-hit game and ended the day as the team's RBI leader after knocking in three runs. Tim Bobek, who entered play tied with Silvera with 10 RBIs on the season, drove in two runs as well.
• Alex Rodriguez III connected on two hits with two RBIs but played an impressive game at shortstop. He was involved in nine outs in the fielding and had a stretch of seven straight outs recorded, including a leaping catch on a line drive in the fifth to preserve the no-hit bid.
• Tyler Dehan continues to hit at a high level with his fourth multi-hit game of the season, finishing 2-for-4 for the contest.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets travel to Cleary on Friday for a WHAC doubleheader against the Cougars. First pitch at Lake Trust Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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