Defiance swept in doubleheader at Hanover on late rallies

HANOVER, Ind. - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets baseball team dropped a pair of games 6-2 and 5-3 Saturday afternoon to Hanover in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader.

The Yellow Jackets held leads in both games on Saturday but could not hold off late rallies from the Panthers in both games.

In the first game, Defiance took leads in the top of the second and the top of the fourth, only to be answered by Hanover. Defiance got on the scoreboard in the second with a Patrick Masopust ground out to the right side that scored Gary Levengood from third base.

The lead was short lived as Hanover answered with a run via a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning.

In the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets regained the lead with another at bat by Masopust. This time, the senior hit a single to left field, scoring Levengood from second base. DC had the chance to add a few more runs in the inning, but stranded Masopust and Joel Musser on second and third.

Hanover again answered back, tying the game at two in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. Defiance got out of the early jam and the score remained tied at two until the eighth inning when the Panthers scored four runs on four hits. 

Defiance dropped the first game after the Panthers held DC scoreless in the top of the ninth.

The Yellow Jackets bounced back in game two, taking a 3-1 lead with a big fifth inning. Aaron Helland started off the inning with a single and a stolen base. Ryan Kohlhofer scored Helland with a single to center.

Two batters later, after Darin Waterman reached with a hit by pitch, Kohlhofer came around to score on a single from Ben Weber. Waterman then scored with a Tyler Sloan ground out to put DC up 3-1.

Hanover answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning and then tied the game in the eighth inning with another run. Defiance was unable to score in the top of the ninth after three quick outs. The Panthers used the momentum to walk off in the bottom of the ninth. After a leadoff walk, Hanover won the game with a two-run homerun.

Defiance will look to rebound with a midweek contest against Manchester on Tuesday. The game is set for a 4:15 p.m. first pitch at Rutter Field.