Baseball Drops Second-Straight Game in Extra Innings

HANOVER, Ind. – A valiant comeback bid by the Defiance College baseball team ended with a disappointing extra-inning loss at Hanover on Friday, as the Jackets fell in the 10-inning affair, 6-5, in their 2010 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener.

In a stark contrast to its early-season trend, Defiance fell behind early and was forced to battle back from a 5-1 deficit through the first three innings of action. Brett Belew made a comeback possible however, as the sophomore silenced the Panther sticks by tossing up six-straight scoreless innings out of the pen.

In the sixth inning the Jacket offense finally began to take advantage of the work from Belew, as Zach Stallkamp tripled home Casey Kahsen and later scored on a ground out off the bat of Alex Timofeev to narrow the DC deficit to 5-3. Defiance used that same formula two innings later to draw within a single run, when Tim Pitro tripled and scored on a Kahsen ground out.

Facing their final three outs of the contest, the feisty Yellow Jackets scraped together one more rally, which was started with a Keith Wade single with one out. Wade advanced to second base on the second out of the inning and Hanover intentionally walked Kirk Jesse to extend the rally. The move would not pay off, as the Panthers failed to lock down the final out on back to back unsuccessful fielder's choice plays that allowed Wade to cross the dish with the game's tying run.

Neither side could do further damage until the bottom of the tenth inning after Belew quickly retired the first two Hanover hitters to open the frame. A single and walk would end a fine showing on the bump from Belew and summon Tyler Gallant to the mound. The hard-throwing freshman could not escape the threat however, as HC's Kyle Barnett greeted him by dumping a single into left field to plate the winning run and hand Defiance its second-straight, 6-5, loss in extra innings.

The work of Belew (0-1) was the story of the day for Defiance, as the righty hurler tossed 7.2 innings of relief and struck out seven Panther hitters. Belew allowed just one run and five hits but was tagged with his first loss of the season.

Gallant and Timofeev paced the offense by each going 2-5 at the plate. Gallant was one of five Jackets to score one run, while Timofeev was one of five DC batters to collect one RBI.

Defiance (6-7, 0-1 HCAC) and Hanover (10-7, 2-0 HCAC) will hook up on the diamond for a doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for noon.