Defiance drops two in conference play at Cleary

HOWELL, Mich. - The Defiance Yellow Jackets were dealt a pair of setbacks on Friday afternoon with 5-0 and 9-6 losses to the Cleary Cougars at Lake Trust Stadium.

Friday's losses by the Yellow Jackets (8-14, 1-3 WHAC) were the first pair of losses on the same day since the start of March at Toccoa Falls and just the third time the team has been swept this season. 

Game 1: Cleary 5, Defiance 0
The Cougars (13-11, 3-2 WHAC) rode Haden Fisk through the first game with a three-hit shutout over seven innings that included seven strikeouts and no walks. The Yellow Jackets scattered three hits while Fisk clamped down to retire 15 straight hitters before Elisa Marquez recorded a one-out hit in the sixth.

Cleary posted runs in four different innings against Josh Gase and Aerion Gipson on the hill for Defiance. Cleary grabbed a run on a sacrifice fly in the second to start the scoring and came back with three straight hits to start the third frame to double their lead. DC traded a double play for the third run of the game but two more base hits forced the Jackets to pull Gase with two outs. The Cougars used extra-base hits to score the last two runs of the game, a homer in the fifth and a one-out double in the sixth.

Game 2: Cleary 9, Defiance 6
The Yellow Jackets quickly shook off the opening-game shutout with a run in the top of the first on a Connor Gephart double. However, Cleary went on to build a 6-2 lead after five innings. Facing Defiance starter Colin Danek, the Cougars grabbed the lead on a two-run single in the home half of the first and added another in the third on a two-out single after Danek escaped a jam in the second. Defiance got that run back in the fourth thanks to one of Cleary's three errors. The Cougars knocked Danek out of the contest in the fourth with a pair of hits and a walk as Defiance turned to Donovan Armstrong. All three inherited runners came in to score, two on an error and another on a sacrifice fly.

Defiance posted a pair of two-run innings in the final third of the game including a two-run homer by Gunner Gregg in the ninth inning. Despite the late heroics, a three-run seventh inning by Cleary was the lone blemish against DC's bullpen that proved to the difference. Armstrong was pulled during the seventh after one run was already in and handed the ball over to Aiden Behrman with no outs, but Cleary pushed across both inherited runners once again.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Yellow Jackets drop to 5-6 for the month of March with six contests to go.
• Anthony Silvera was one of two Yellow Jackets to record hits in each game, finishing 3-for-6 with a pair of walks on the day. He led off Game 2 and reached base four times with two hits and two walks.
• Gunner Gregg was the team's leading hitter for the day that also included hits in each ballgame. In Game 2, Gregg finished a triple shy of his second career cycle by going 3-for-4 with a double and a homer plus a walk.
• Jacob Hild and Connor Gephart continued to get on base at a high clip with a hit and walk during the second game despite going hitless in Game 1.
• Aiden Behrman completed one inning of work without a run charged to his line and is carrying a 3.00 ERA over his last two outings.
• Blake Bowman also worked a scoreless frame with a perfect eighth inning in Game 2.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets travel to Lawrence Tech on Sunday for a 1 p.m. start of a WHAC doubleheader against the Blue Devils.

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