Yellow Jackets end season with doubleheader sweep over KSU-Tuscarawas

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance Yellow Jackets closed the 2025 baseball season with two more victories in resounding fashion over the Kent State Tuscarawas Golden Eagles, 22-3 and 11-2, at Craig A. Rutter Field on Sunday.

The Yellow Jackets finished the campaign with a 15-35 record to close the program's first season back in the NAIA. It was also the final games in purple and gold for the program's 11 seniors, all of which made memorable contributions over the team's last four games on Saturday and Sunday.

Game 1: Defiance 22, Kent State Tuscarawas 3
Blake Bowman set the tone of the game with an immaculate inning, striking out the first three hitters on just nine pitches. Offensively, DC batted through the order in the bottom of the inning and posted four runs to take the early lead. After tacking on one in the second and an unearned KSUT run in the third, Elisa Marquez delivered a one-out double in the bottom of third to set the table for a 10-run outburst. It was the most runs by DC in an inning this year and included RBI singles by Connor Gephart, Tyler Dehan, Alex Rodriguez III and Marquez. Bowman held the Golden Eagles in check with three unearned runs and struck out six over his five innings en route to the winning decision. The offense went on to add runs in all seven frames, which included hits off the bench by Logan Hudson, Greg Kita, Josh Gase, Carter Kennon and Joseph O'Neil. Kennon highlighted the group with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in the sixth. 

Game 2: Defiance 11, Kent State Tuscarawas 2
Pitching kept the Golden Eagles on their heels once again as the Yellow Jackets tabbed antoher left, Donovan Armstrong, to start the second game. He blanked KSUT over the first four innings while the offense built a 6-0 lead through two innings. Dehan connected on a two-run single in the first and walked in another in the second. Jacob Hild, Mitchell Roever and Rodriguez all knocked in runs during the open two turns at the plate. The Golden Eagles' only significant traffic on the bases against Armstrong came in his final inning with a pair of RBI hits and one unearned run. Damarious Taylor and Aidan Behrman blanked the visitors over the final two innings while Defiance scored in every inning except the third. Seniors Roever, Rodriguez and Tim Bobek brought home runs during a three-run fourth. Rodriguez and Hild each delivered RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

SENIOR NOTES

• Jeffrey Varga locked down the final six outs on the mound in Game 1, finishing two shutout innings. The outing marked his second scoreless effort of the season to close out his collegiate career.
• Damarious Taylor retired 4 of 6 batters faced in scoreless relief in Game 2 for the senior to close out his four-year career. 
• Gunner Gregg added to his hefty career hits total with a three-hit game in Game 2 and in total went 4-for-6 with three walks. He closed his career with 148 hits, tied for ninth all-time at Defiance. He also closed his career in the program's career top-10 in home runs (16, 4th), RBIs (77, 9th), walks (65, 7th), doubles (30, T-7th), extra-base hits (48, 5th) and games played (146, 3rd).
• Jacob Hild closed a stellar senior year as the team's leader in hitting. He went 2-for-7 on the afternoon and his 53 hits for the season were tied for sixth-most in a season in program history. He also walked 60 times in his career, finishing tied for seventh among the program leaderboard.
• Tyler Dehan had a near perfect day at the plate to close out his career. He went 3-for-3 with a walk in Game 1 followed by a single and three walks in Game 2. He went 4-for-5 with four walks and scored three times.
• Mitchell Roever also left a mark with hits in each game, totalling 3-for-7 with three RBIs. 
• Alex Rodriguez III had a pair to two-hit games and combined for six RBIs during the sweep.
• Tim Bobek worked his way on base four times in Game 1 with two hit-by-pitch and two walks. In the second game, he drove in a run on the sacrifice fly.
• Josh Gase connected on his first base hit as a Yellow Jacket after coming off the bench and playing first base.
• Tyler Sickmiller and Aerion Gipson each made their last pitching appearances during Saturday's victories over UM-Dearborn. Gipson was also used as a pinch runner during the Game 1 rout.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The 22-run outburst in Game 1 was Defiance's most runs in a game since a program-record 27 runs at Franklin in 2017.
• Defiance's four-game winning streak to end the year is the team's longest under head coach Shane Gardner and the team's longest since winning six straight at the beginning of the shortened 2020 campaign.
• Blake Bowman earned his second win of the season, setting a new career high along with a career-high 36 strikeouts on the season. Sunday's six-strikeout effort was Bowman's third performance of six strikeouts or more this season.
• Donovan Armstrong had a career day on the mound, tossing a career-best five innings and set a new personal high with six strikeouts. He also picked up his first winning decision as a college pitcher.
• Anthony Silvera Jr. was an on-base machine, walking three times in the first game and a hit-by-pitch followed by a walk and base hit in the second contest. For the season, Silvera set the program single-season record for hit-by-pitch in a season with 18, scored 42 runs (T-2nd), and walked 30 times (T-4th). 
• Elisa Marquez collected her first extra-base hit at DC, matched her single-game career high with three hits in Game 1, and finished 4-for-8 with two RBIs.
• Connor Gephart closed out a strong campaign as well with hits in each ballgame. He was 2-for-8 with three RBIs, all from Game 1.
• During the first game, multiple players notched career firsts off the Yellow Jacket bench. Senior Josh Gase registered his first hit alongside sophomores Logan Hudson and Joseph O'Neil. Sophomore Carter Kennon's sixth-inning home run was the first of his college career.

-JACKETS-