Baseball begins Spring Break trip with sweep of USMMA
FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the opening doubleheader during its annual Spring Break trip, the Defiance College baseball team swept the United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners by the scores of 7-1 and 3-2. The games were played as a part of the 30th Annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic at the Lee County Player Development Complex.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the opening doubleheader during its annual Spring Break trip, the Defiance College baseball team swept the United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners by the scores of 7-1 and 3-2. The games were played as a part of the 30th Annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic at the Lee County Player Development Complex.
Defiance evens its overall record at 2-2 on the young season while USMMA is 1-3.
"We had good pitching in both games," DC head coach Derek Woodley said. "We had some timely hits in game one and forced them into some mistakes in game two with our bunting and hustle."
In the opener, the Yellow Jackets scored once in the top of the first inning before the Mariners tied the contest with a run in the second. Defiance reclaimed the lead, 2-1, in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Ben Bucklew (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold). DC tacked on five more runs in the seventh as Bucklew and Nate Kaffenbarger (De Graff, Ohio/Indian Lake) drove in a pair of runs apiece.
The Yellow Jackets collected 12 hits while USMMA finished with just four. Defiance committed the game's only error and left 12 runners on base, compared to four for its opponent. DC also stole six bases, two each by Bucklew and Jude Neary (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch Catholic), while the Mariners had none.
At the plate for the winners, Kaffenbarger was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored while Colin Minner (London, Ohio/London) went 3 for 5 with a two-base hit and an RBI.
Cohen Nies (Logansport, Ind./Lewis Cass) started and picked up the win for the Yellow Jackets after pitching six innings. He struck out seven and walked only one before Zac Brazen (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) came on and worked a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout.
Defiance got out to another early advantage with a first-inning run in the second game but USMMA scored once in each of the fourth and fifth innings to take a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, DC rallied with two unearned runs that were aided by an error and a balk.
The Yellow Jackets were outhit, 6-4, but the Mariners made three errors and Defiance one. DC, which had four sacrifice bunts, stranded just as many base runners to USMMA's seven.
For the Yellow Jackets, Minner ended 1 for 2 with a sacrifice bunt, run scored and the team's lone RBI while Lucas Thomeier (Wickliffe, Ohio/Wickliffe) doubled in three at-bats for the squad's only extra-base hit. Bucklew and Kaffenbarger were each 1 for 3 with a run scored.
On the mound for Defiance, Grant Curavo (Northwood, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch Catholic) recorded the victory in relief after tossing two no-hit innings with a couple of strikeouts. Jon Brown (Haskins, Ohio/Otsego) got the start and went five innings, striking out three.
On Tuesday morning, the Jackets continue play in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic at the Player Development Complex when facing Wisconsin Lutheran College in a doubleheader at 9 a.m.