Bulldogs Outplay Defiance in Two-Game Sweep

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Yellow Jacket softball team hosted Adrian University in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs' pitching stifled the Defiance bats for much of the afternoon and won by scores of 7-0 and 4-2.

Game one of the day started as a pitcher's duel, as both teams combined for three hits through the first three innings. The contest was scoreless heading into the top of the fourth, and then Adrian broke the 0-0 deadlock with a solo homerun from sophomore Brittany Bertrand.

The homerun jumpstarted the Bulldog offense, as Adrian went on to score in every inning after the solo shot. Adrian added one run in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh to score seven in game one.

The Jackets were not able to build any momentum at the plate against the dominant pitching from Adrian's Kelly Eberhardt, who tossed a four-hit, complete game shutout against DC. Eberhardt struck out 11 en route to a 7-0 win. 

The Purple and Gold was able to rebound quickly at the beginning of the second game of the day. After freshman starting pitcher Lauren Dicke tossed a scoreless top of the first, the Jackets plated a run in the bottom of the frame to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Macy Ferrall scored the run off a single from sophomore Stephanie Esquibel.

Defiance held the lead until the top of the third when the Bulldogs scored a run of its own off three hits in the inning to knot the game up at one run apiece. Adrian added two more runs from two hits and one Defiance error in the top of the fifth inning to grab a 3-1 lead.

The Yellow Jackets responded by cutting the deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth from a Ferrall RBI single down the left field line that scored senior Katelyn Samples. Unfortunately for the Purple and Gold, 3-2 is as close as Defiance would get the rest of the game, and Adrian went on to win by a score of 4-2.

A notable game two performance was turned in by Ferrall, who went a perfect 4-4 at the dish in the defeat. The sophomore third baseman accounted for one run and one run batted in for the Jackets.

DC is back in action on Monday, April 23 as the Jackets host Dennison University in the last non-conference matchup of the season. Game one is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.