DC baseball opens season, drops both games of DH vs. Muskingum

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Defiance College baseball program started the 2023 campaign with losses of 7-4 and 5-4 at the hands of Muskingum on Saturday at Xavier University's Hayden Field.

Game 1
Final: Muskingum 7, Defiance 4
W: Liam Carey (1-0)
L: Ethan Jenkins (0-1)
SV: None
Time: 2:55
Box Score: Click here

A three-run seventh inning by Muskingum ended up being the difference in Game 1 as they claimed a 7-4 decision. Neither pitching staff recorded a clean inning as both teams combined for 23 hits and 12 walks. 

Defiance knotted the score at 3-3 in the top of the inning on a two-out double by Austin Horning before the Muskies answered back to load the bases on DC reliever Ethan Jenkins. Muskingum took the lead back on a sacrifice fly for the first out, then Ryan Schwartz ripped a two-run double to center to plate the next two. After a hit batter by Jenkins, Johnny Hammerstein entered to close the door in the seventh and stranded the bases loaded. Hammerstein pitched the eighth as well while the Muskies grabbed an insurance run.

Schwartz also put the Muskies ahead during a two-run third inning in which he tripled in the go-ahead run at the time. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three extra-base hits. Weston Melick went 4-for-4 for the Muskies with a double and a pair of RBIs, including one in the home half of the eighth.

Nies shouldered the first six innings for the Jackets and finished with six consecutive scoreless innings after Muskingum led 3-2 after three innings. Muskingum scattered 10 hits off Nies and walked twice but he limited the damage while stranding seven on base and picked off one.

The Yellow Jackets jumped on Muskies starter Jaxon Rinkes for two runs in the top of the first before he settled in to toss three more scoreless frames. With two on and two out, Jacob Hild singled home Gunner Gregg and created another run on a steal of second base to draw a throw while Trent Murdock scampered home.

Defiance could not push another run across until the seventh. Hunter Bostater ripped a double to left but Mudock was cut down at third base. Two batters later, Horning delivered the game-tying knock and was left on third when the inning ended. 

Gregg and Bostater each recorded two hits apiece for Defiance with Murdock delivering an RBI along with Bostater and Hild. Dylan King and Murdock each climbed on base three times with a pair of walks and a base hit.

Game 2
Final: Muskingum 5, Defiance 4
W: Jake Roshau (1-0)
L: Sam Thombs (0-1)
SV: Austin Lippolis (1)
Time: 2:20
Box Score: Click here

The Yellow Jackets scattered runs over four different innings in game two, including the top of the first and two home runs in the middle innings, but a pair of two-run frames were enough for the Muskies to secure their second win of the day. 

Gregg set up Defiance's run in the first with a double in the second at-bat of the game and ended at third on Muskingum's lone error of the contest. Murdock flied out to center to bring him in to put DC ahead after a half-inning for the second game in a row. 

The Muskies put together three first-inning hits against Jacket starter Sam Thombs, including a two-run single by Schwartz to bring his RBI total for the day up to five. 

Tyler Dehan smacked a solo home run to left for Defiance with one out in the fifth inning to bring the Yellow Jackets within one run, but the Muskies posted a pair of two-out runs during the bottom of the inning. Quintin Collins connected on a two-out, bases-loaded single to plate two just before the final out of the inning was made at second base.

The Yellow Jackets added single runs in the sixth and seventh. Murdock unloaded on a solo homer in the sixth while Josh Vischer singled Dehan home after he doubled in the seventh.

Thombs labored through five frames for Defiance and worked around 12 hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts. Tyler Sickmiller took the Jackets the rest of the way on the hill and dazzled through three one-hit innings that featured one strikeout. 

Gregg recorded three hits in the second contest while Dehan posted two. Gregg went 5-for-8 on the day with a double while Dehan posted a 3-for-8 afternoon with a home run and double.

Defiance hosts a single game against Kalamazoo on Sunday. The contest will be held at Defiance High School with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

-JACKETS-