Kanagy powers Jackets to conference-opening win
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
|
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0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 9 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 4 |
|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Defiance Yellow Jackets extended their winning streak to 5 games with a conference-opening victory, 5-4, over the Cornerstone Golden Eagles at Mercy Field on Saturday. In the second contest, the Golden Eagles notched their first league win of the season by beating DC 13-4.
The Yellow Jackets (8-15, 1-1 WHAC) started 1-0 in the conference for the second year in a row by taking the opener over the Golden Eagles (5-16, 1-2 WHAC). Freshman Hayden Kanagy led the offense in the first game by driving in all 5 runs, and senior Kolbe VanderLeest delivered 2 RBIs in the nightcap. VanderLeest and Anthony Silvera Jr. led Defiance with 3 hits across the twinbill.
Game 1 - Defiance 5, Cornerstone 4
Falling behind 3-0 in the first contest, the Yellow Jackets rallied from behind to win their fourth one-run game of the season. Kanagy drove in Bradyn Shaw to get DC on the board during the third, but he delivered one of the biggest hits of his young career in the next inning. Starting with Elisa Marquez's second hit of the game to lead off the inning, the Jackets loaded the bases on an error and hit batter. Kanagy unloaded on a grand slam over the left field fence to give DC the lead while welcoming reliever Jayden Floyd to the game.
The big hit was a relief for starting pitcher Bradyn Shaw, who went on to earn his second victory of the season. Working into the fifth, Cornerstone got a run back against Shaw without using an out. DC turned to the bullpen for Joseph O'Neil and he escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts and an inning-ending groundout to prohibit any further damage. O'Neil retired the first 8 hitters he faced but got into a first and third jam in the seventh. The senior went on to slam the door shut with his fifth strikeout over his 3 innings of work and earned his first-career save.
Game 2 - Cornerstone 13, Defiance 4
The Golden Eagles' bats erupted early with a three-run double and a two-run homer to pile up a 5-run start to the contest. Cornerstone added 2 more runs in the second without a base hit to extend their lead to 7-0. While the DC bats were silenced early on, the Jackets locked in on the hill as Brez Zipfel and Max Biernacki held Cornerstone hitless over the next 5 innings and faced the minimum from the fourth into the eighth frame. Zipfel fanned 5 hitters over 4 hitless innings of relief while Biernacki tossed a season-high 3 innings and struck out 3 hitters, which were the first of his college career.
Defiance wiped out the shutout in the sixth when Connor Gephart pushed a run across on a bases-loaded groundout. The next batter, Kolbe VanderLeest, then shot a single through the middle of the diamond to cut Cornerstone's lead down to 7-3. After the two sides exchanged runs in the eighth to move the score to 8-4, Cornerstone put together a 5-run ninth to extinguish the Yellow Jackets' comeback hopes.
UP NEXT
Sunday's games against Lawrence Tech have been postponed to a later date. The Yellow Jackets return to the diamond next Saturday with a WHAC doubleheader at Madonna starting at 1 p.m.
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