Softball Suffers Two Heartbreaking Losses to Rose-Hulman

TERRE HAUTE, IND.  --  The Defiance College softball team suffered a pair of heartbreaking losses against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology, 3-2 and 4-3, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader in Terre Haute, Ind.

Defiance (4-12, 0-4 HCAC) began game one with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on a RBI-double by sophomore Megan Warren (Mason) and a RBI-single by freshman Calli Bauer (Galion) to lead 2-0.  The Yellow Jackets maintained their lead heading into the bottom of the seventh when Rose-Hulman (11-3, 2-0 HCAC) got bases loaded with only one out.  The Fightin' Engineers capitalized on their opportunity with a two-RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.  With runners on first and second base, Rose-Hulman then got the game-winning base hit on a double allowing the decisive third run to cross home plate and pull off the 3-2 come-from-behind win.

DC ended the first game with eight hits that included a pair of multi-hit efforts.  Freshman Kaity Kuhn (Celina) and sophomore Emily Denhard (Troy, Mich./Kolbe Academy) both finished two-of-four.  Denhard also scored a run.  Warren finished the game one-of-three with a run scored and RBI, while Bauer was also one-of-three in addition to a RBI.

At pitcher, freshman Sarah Kaya (Lorain/Clearview) pitched a complete game, but was given the loss, and is now 1-5 overall for the season.  In six-and-a-third innings, Kaya allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits and struck out 10 batters.  It marks the second time this season that Kaya has tallied 10 or more strikeouts.

In the nightcap, Rose-Hulman struck first scoring two runs in the first inning for the early lead.  Defiance cut the deficit in half in the top of the second when Warren hit a solo homerun, her first of the season, to make the score 2-1.  But the Engineers answered the run with a run of their own in the third on a double to extend the margin back to two runs, 3-1.  This time, the Jackets played the role of "spoiler" by scoring two runs in the fourth on a wild pitch and then a RBI-double by freshman Haley Patty (Bradford) later in the inning tying the game at 4-4.  In a repeat of game one, the seventh inning wouldn't be kind to DC as Rose-Hulman had runners at second and third with one out.  Following an intentional walk to load the bases and force a possible inning-ending double play, the Engineers found space through the right side allowing a run to score and clinch a 4-3 victory.

The Jackets had four hits in game two by four different players.  Warren finished one-of-three with a run scored and RBI.  Kuhn and junior Sandra Hubler (Berea) also went one-of-three and Hubler added a RBI.  Patty rounded out the DC hitters going one-of-two overall to go along with a run scored.

Patty also started on the mound and pitched the entire game, allowing four runs on nine hits and tallied three strikeouts.  She also ended up with the loss and is now 1-4 for the season.

Defiance is scheduled to travel to Notre Dame, Ind. for a non-conference doubleheader against Saint (Ind.) Mary's College on Wednesday, Apr. 1.  The first game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.