Baseball suffers 8-6 loss to Manchester in HCAC play

DEFIANCE, Ohio – In Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, the Defiance College baseball squad suffered an 8-6 loss to the visiting Manchester University Spartans at Craig A. Rutter Field.

Manchester led, 4-0, before Defiance fought back with two runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. The Spartans tied the game at 6-6 in the sixth inning and added single runs in the eighth and ninth to capture the win. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yellow Jackets had the tying run on base but were held scoreless.

DC collected 14 hits to the guests' 10, but they were all singles. Meanwhile, MU finished with three home runs and two doubles. Manchester was guilty of three of the contest's four errors and each team left nine runners on base.

Lucas Thomeier and Michael Reese each went 3 for 5 with a run scored for Defiance while Nate Kaffenbarger was 2 for 4 with a run batted in and run scored. Colin Minner and Josh Vischer had two hits apiece with each scoring a run while freshman Billy McNamara and Lane Good each singled and drove in a run.

On the mound for the Yellow Jackets, Daniel Tomalak started and went 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. Tyler Hines, the third of four DC pitchers, got the loss after going 1.1 innings and allowing one hit, one run and one walk.

Defiance slips to 6-23 overall and in the conference while the Spartans are 13-16. The same teams are scheduled to meet for an HCAC doubleheader on Sunday at Defiance High School. Game one is set at 12 p.m.