Yellow Jackets Fall to Manchester (Ind.) in Home Finale

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College baseball team totaled 11 hits, but fell short on the scoreboard as the Yellow Jackets lost to Manchester (Ind.) University, 10-5, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Craig A. Rutter Field in the home finale.

Manchester (22-12, 15-9 HCAC) scored quickly with three runs in the top of the first inning that included a two-RBI triple.  Defiance (15-17, 10-14 HCAC) rallied with four unanswered runs begining with a score in the bottom of the first on RBI single by junior Ben Weber (Troy/Lehman Catholic) and then a three-run second inning highlighted by a three-run triple by senior Chris Donese (Kettering/Fairmont) with bases loaded to make the score 4-3. 

The Spartans then made a rally of their own answering DC's three-run second, with another three-run inning of their own, this time in the top of the third to regain a 6-4 advantage.  The Yellow Jackets scored what turned out to be their final run in the bottom half of the third on a wild pitch with runners at first and third base that allowed senior Joel Musser (Center Line, Mich./Center Line) to score. 

The 6-5 deficit following three innings of play would be as close as DC got the rest of the way as Manchester went on to add a run in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings en route to the 10-5 final.

Junior Ryan Kohlhofer (Walbridge/Lake) led the team in hits with three and finished three-of-five overall.  He also scored a pair of runs.  Three other players recorded multi-hit games, including sophomore Zack Reed (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) who tallied two hits in three at-bats to go along with a run scored.  Musser and senior Matt Staels (Harrison Twp., Mich./L'Anse Creuse) both went two-of-five with Musser adding a run scored.  Donese ended the game with a hit in four at-bats and tallied a game-tying high three RBI.  Weber rounded out the hitters going one-of-five and had a RBI.

At pitcher, sophomore Nick Peters (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) got the start, but would end up with the loss after pitching three innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and had one strikeout.  Freshman Jacob Green (Defiance) pitched four innings of relief and gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits and posted two strikeouts.  Sophomore Nick Watkins (Lima/Central Catholic) pitched the final two innings and allowed no runs and only one hit.

Defiance will wrap-up the 2015 season when it travels to Anderson, Ind. for a three-game series against Anderson (Ind.) University on Friday-Saturday, May 1-2.  The Yellow Jackets and Ravens will play a nine-inning single game on Friday which is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.