Bowman’s gem leads DC to first conference win in Sunday split at MSJ

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Starting pitching set the tone in both games and led to a split of Sunday's doubleheader at Midland Field with the Mount St. Joseph Lions winning Game 1, 14-4, and the Defiance Yellow Jackets winning the second contest, 4-2. DC sophomore Blake Bowman earned his first career winning decision after pitching the Yellow Jackets into the eighth inning to aid the team's first conference victory of the season.

Defiance improves to 3-16 on the season and now stands 1-8 in the HCAC, snapping a 20-game conference losing streak. The Lions remain one game over .500 at 12-11 and were handed just their second loss in league action to go to 7-2 in the HCAC.

Game 1 - Mount St. Joseph 14, Defiance 4

Starting pitching made the first contest competitive through the halfway point despite single runs by each side in the first. Gunner Gregg slugged a leadoff homer for the Yellow Jackets before the Lions drew four straight walks to tie the game in their half of the inning.

Despite early issues with control, Defiance starter Josh Gase buckled down to work a force out at home for the first out followed by a 6-4-3 double play that got him out of the bases-loaded jam. From that point, Gase faced the minimum through the next three innings thanks to another double play in the second. He allowed three hits but was charged three runs after he was responsible for a pair of MSJ runs in the fifth. Gase gave way to Johnny Hammerstein in relief after a single and double broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth.

On the flip side, the Lions' Aidan Post held the Jackets to two runs and struck out eight hitters over 6.1 innings. Mount St. Joseph opened up the contest with five runs in the seventh inning to push ahead to a 10-2 lead at the time. Ethan Mason highlighted the big inning with a two-run homer. The Lions added another big inning with four runs in the eighth to finish the contest via run rule.

Game 2 - Defiance 4, Mount St. Joseph 2

Blake Bowman gave Defiance one of the team's best pitching performances of the season with a 7.1-inning, one-run effort in the second game of Sunday's twinbill. He held the Lions scoreless until the eighth inning and was relieved following a one-out single by MSJ, which came around and scored against the bullpen on a double to left.

The contest was scoreless until Connor Gephart slugged his fourth home run of the season over the left field fence. Four hitters late, Tim Bobek delivered an RBI single that plated Trent Murdock in the two-run fourth. DC went on to add single runs in the sixth and ninth innings, each on two-out hits. Tyler Dehan came through in the sixth to bring Mitchell Roever around while it was Gregg with an RBI double to plate Dehan in the ninth.

Gregg was also called upon to pitch for the Yellow Jackets to help preserve the lead in the eighth inning. After securing the final two outs of the inning, he gave himself some breathing room on the RBI knock before locking down the final three outs for his third save of the year.

BRINGING THE STING

• Blake Bowman's 7.1 innings pitched are the second-most by a Yellow Jackets starting pitcher this season (Josh Gase, 8.0 innings at Wright State-Lake). The outing was also the longest of his career.
• Now with three saves in all three Defiance wins this season, Gunner Gregg is one save shy of becoming the 11th player in program history with at least four saves in a season.
• Gregg also went 4-for-8 at the plate in both games with a home run, double, and two RBIs. 
• Tyler Dehan tallied his second multi-hit game over the last four contests with a 2-for-3 showing in Game 2. For the afternoon, Dehan went 3-for-6 at the plate with a triple and an RBI.
• Mitchell Roever connected on two doubles, one in each game, and went 2-for-8 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Roever now has seven extra-base hits on the campaign.
• Connor Gephart leads the team with eight extra-base hits after his team-best fourth homer cleared the wall in Game 2. Gephart went 2-for-7 on the afternoon and is now hitting .350 on the season.
• Trent Murdock also recorded base hits in both games and scored a pair of runs.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Wednesday for a single game against future WHAC opponent Indiana Tech. The first pitch against the Warriors is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Warrior Baseball Field in Fort Wayne.

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