DC Comeback effort falls short in shootout

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets baseball team fell behind 11-0 early in Tuesday's game against Bluffton, but mounted a big comeback effort that resulted in 26 runs being scored at Rutter Field in a defeat.

The Yellow Jackets were unable to completely close the gap, but gave Bluffton trouble in a 16-10 defeat in the single game.

Bluffton came out with a huge first inning, capitalizing on three Defiance errors, two hit batters and a walk, fueling a nine-run start for the Beavers. Following the huge deficit in the first inning, Defiance outscore Bluffton 10-7.

However, it was Bluffton who score again before DC got on the board. The Beavers used a home run in the fourth to go up 11-0. Both runs in the fourth and just one run in the first inning were earned runs given up by DC, with the errors proving to bring a costly total of eight runs against DC in the early stages.

Defiance got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, first with an error by Bluffton as Aaron Helland and Zack Reed came around to score on a throwing error by the shortstop.

In the next at bat, Chris Donese hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 11-4 after four innings.

Neither team scored in the fifth but Bluffton answered back with a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to pull back ahead by double digits.

Bluffton reopened up its 11 point lead in the top of the seventh inning with another run, but that lead didn't last long though, as Darin Waterman hit a lead-off home run in the bottom half of the inning.

Three batters later, DC added another run as Ben Weber singled to score Masopust from second base. Three batters after that, another DC run crossed the plate as Helland singled through the right side, allowing Weber to score from second.

A sacrifice fly pushed Bluffton's lead back to 16-7 in the eight inning, but Defiance still put up a fight in the ninth inning, forcing two pitching changes and two more mound visits in the final inning.

Ryan Kohlhofer had a two-RBI single that scored Weber and Gary Levengood and Donese had another RBI hit that scored Tyler Sloan to cut the lead to 16-10. Waterman just missed making it a three-run game as he hit a towering shot to left field that was brought in on the warning track for the final out of the game.

Donese, Weber, and Helland all had multi-hit games. Weber was a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs scored after pinch hitting. Donese finished 3-of-6 with three RBIs and a run scored.

The Yellow Jackets will look to rebound on Friday and Saturday with a three-game series at Mount St Joseph. Game one is set for a 5 p.m. start on Friday with a doubleheader to follow on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio.