Defiance Keeps Hopes Alive with Victory Against Anderson

ANDERSON, IND. -- The Defiance College softball team kept their season alive by knocking top-seeded Anderson (Ind.) University out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament with an 8-6 victory in an elimination contest at Raven Field in Anderson, Ind.

Defiance (25-16) took advantage of a pair of Raven (21-21) miscues in the first, as Emily Denhard (Troy, Mich./Kolbe Academy) reached on an error to get the Yellow Jacket offense rolling. After Megan Warren (Mason) advanced her to third with a base hit, Brooke Gostomsky (Covington) scored Denhard on a fielder's choice to make it a 1-0 game. Two batters later, Jackie Hartman (Parma/Padua Franciscan) added an RBI-single to score Warren and give DC a 2-0 lead. 

Anderson tied the game with one run apiece in the second and third innings before Defiance pulled out another rally in the fourth. Haley Patty (Bradford) walked to lead off the inning before pinch-hitter Keri Hupp (Louisville) drilled a two-run homer to put DC back in front, 4-2. Jordan Osborne came back with a base-hit to left field and later scored on another single from Warren. Gostomsky then came up big again with a bases-clearing double to give DC a commanding, 7-2, lead.

The Ravens continued to hang around with one run in the fourth and two more runs in the fifth to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 7-4, but a two-out double from Hartman was followed by a run-scoring single by Patty to add an insurance run and give DC an 8-4 advantage.

Anderson scored two more in the sixth to make it an 8-6 game entering the seventh, where Defiance garnered three hits but left the inning without a run. Anderson led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and a walk, putting the winning run at the plate with no outs. Junior hurler Sarah Kaya (Lorain/Clearview) worked her way out of the jam however, as Anderson popped out on a bunt to first and then lined into a double play to give Defiance the 8-6 victory.

Kaya improved her record to 13-10 on the season with the complete-game win. She allowed only two earned runs (six total) on nine hits while walking three and striking out three.

The middle of the Defiance lineup came up big again, as Warren went three-of-four with an RBI. Gostomsky finished the day with just one hit, but drove in three runs, while Hartman and Osborne also garnered a pair of hits in the victory for DC.

Definace returns to action on the final day of the HCAC Tournament in Anderson, Ind. on Sunday, May 7. The Yellow Jackets will square off with the loser of the contest between Transylvania (Ky.) University and Franklin (Ind.) College at 11 a.m. With a victory, DC would face the winner of today's Transylvania-Franklin matchup, needing two victories to win the HCAC Championship.