Baseball opens 2020 campaign by dropping road doubleheader

UPLAND, Ind. – The Defiance College baseball team opened its 2020 season on Tuesday afternoon with a doubleheader on the road against the Taylor University Trojans. Defiance dropped the first game, 17-2, before suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the second at Winterholter Field.

Taylor, an NAIA member, moves to 12-2 overall on the young season after going 38-18 last year.

In the second contest, the Yellow Jackets held a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom seventh inning before the Trojans rallied for three runs to send the game into an extra inning. TU pulled out the victory with a run in the eighth.

Colin Minner (London, Ohio/London) gave DC a 1-0 advantage with an RBI single in the first inning before Nate Kaffenbarger (De Graff, Ohio/Indian Lake) led off the third with a home run to make it 2-0. Defiance added a run in the fifth inning before Taylor's comeback.

The Yellow Jackets had just three hits while the hosts finished with six. DC committed two of the contest's three errors and stranded nine base runners to the Trojans' six. All four of TU's runs were unearned.

Kaffenbarger ended 2 for 3 with a walk for Defiance while Minner was 1 for 3.

On the mound for the Yellow Jackets, Jon Brown (Haskins, Ohio/Otsego) started and pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, striking out seven with one walk while allowing five hits, all singles. Zac Brazen (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) was the tough-luck losing pitcher after giving up one hit with a strikeout and an intentional walk over one inning.

DC led, 1-0, in the first game but it was short-lived as Taylor responded with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Defiance trimmed its deficit to 4-2 in the second before the Trojans answered with three runs in the bottom half to establish a 7-2 edge. TU continued to build its lead with a run in the third inning, a six-run fourth and two-run fifth. Taylor concluded the scoring by pushing across another run in the sixth.

The Trojans outhit their visitors by a 17-4 margin and each squad made an error. The Yellow Jackets left five runners on base and TU 10.

For DC, Minner went 2 for 3 with a double and run scored while Ben Bucklew (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) was 1 for 2 with a stolen base. Freshman Josh Vischer (Genoa, Ohio/Genoa) chipped in with a hit while Dominic Kuzujanakis (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) had the club's lone RBI.

Cohen Nies (Logansport, Ind./Lewis Cass) got the start in the opener for Defiance and pitched three innings with four strikeouts in suffering the loss. Will Bohlman (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and Daniel Tomalak (Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton) also threw in relief.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on their annual Spring Break trip to Fort Myers, Florida, when playing a doubleheader with the United States Merchant Marine Academy next Monday. Game one is set for noon.