Yellow Jackets sweep Lourdes at home on Wednesday

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College softball secured its first doubleheader sweep of the campaign with wins of 2-1 and 7-5 over the Lourdes Gray Wolves at Sal Hench Field on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets (8-12, 3-1 WHAC) have won 3 of 4 to start conference play with an extra-inning win to start the day and churning out a season-high 14 hits in a comeback victory in Game 2. The Gray Wolves (5-8, 2-2) dropped to .500 in league play after sweeping Cleary on Sunday.

Game 1 - Defiance 2, Lourdes 1 (8 innings)
Freshman pitcher Madelyn Hopper (Win, 3-2) fired a complete-game win for the Yellow Jackets in a pitcher's duel to start the game. Hopper allowed one unearned run in the top of the seventh, and held Lourdes without a hit following a one-out single in the first until the sixth frame. Hopper worked out of a small jam in the sixth with an infield fly and an inning-ending groundout and went on to limit the Gray Wolves to one run after facing runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh.

Allison Stinson drove home both Defiance runs in the contest, a sacrifice fly that broke a scoreless tie in the fourth and a walk-off single with one out in the eighth. Catherine Trebley set the table for Stinson in the fourth when she started the inning with a double and reached third on the play due to a Lourdes error. In the eighth, Ciara Blankenship singled, Ali Mowen walked and Trebley singled sharply to lef to fill the bases for Stinson's game-winner.

Game 2 - Defiance 7, Lourdes 5
The Yellow Jackets saw a 3-0 lead disappear but overcame a 5-3 deficit for a gutsy win to sweep the day. DC struck for 3 runs with 2 outs in the second. Kaylee Heath led off with a walk followed by a Blankenship single, and Heath went on to score the first run of the game on a wild pitch. Hopper and Morgan Scott socked back-to-back doubles to drive in runs to make it a 3-0 ballgame. 

Lourdes responded with a 3-run third inning, and Defiance turned to Devyn Hamilton (Win, 2-4) in relief of starter Taighen Zipfel to start the fourth. The Gray Wolves captured the lead in the fourth on a 2-out double that scored a pair of unearned runs. 

The Jackets got a run back in the bottom of the inning during a string of 4 straight hits beginning with Hopper, who scored on one of Ali Mowen's three hits in the contest. After a scoreless frame by Hamilton, DC's offense tied the game on a Lourdes wild pitch before Mowen delivered a 2-run, go-ahead single up the middle. Hamilton closed the game with 4 innings of relief and held Lourdes to 4 hits while striking out a pair.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Defiance improved to 3-1 in the WHAC, marking the best start to conference play in their two seasons in the league. It also matches the program's best start in the conference schedule under Coach Osborne, which was also a 3-1 start in the HCAC in 2024.
• The home doubleheader sweep is the program's first at Sal Hench Field since taking two games from Manchester in 2024, but the second game was suspended and resumed on a different day.
• The walk-off win to start the doubleheader was the team's first walk-off win of the season.
• Ali Mowen racked up a team-high 5 hits in the twinbill and collected 3 RBIs in the second contest. Mowen went 2-for-3 in the first game and 3-for-5 in the second contest.
• Freshmen Catherine Trebley and Ciara Blankenship each racked up 4 hits apiece. Blankenship scored 3 times while Trebley had 1 double among her 4 hits.
• Morgan Scott drilled a pair of doubles during a 3-for-7 afternoon, one in each game plus an RBI.
• Madelyn Hopper showed off her two-way abilities in the circle during the first game and posted a 3-hit game in the second contest with a double. She also scored 3 times for the Jackets.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets continue their homestand against Lawrence Tech on Saturday. The doubleheader against the Blue Devils will begin at 1 p.m. at Sal Hench Field.

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