DC Baseball earns a walk-off win, loses 3 of 4 to Grace

JASPER, Ind. – The Defiance Yellow Jackets baseball team competed in its second series of the season and split Saturday's doubleheader after the Grace Lancers swept Friday's action at Ruxer Field. The Yellow Jackets move to 2-6 to start the season.

Game 1 - Grace 3, Defiance 2
Grace grabbed the first game of the series with a last at-bat victory, breaking a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off home run by Ian Wilson. His solo blast answered Defiance's single runs in the fifth and sixth frames to even the score. Elisa Marquez put DC on the board after a lead-off double by Logan Rosenberger in the fifth, and Connor Gephart scurried home on a two-out wild pitch to tie the game the next inning. Blake Bowman pitched a strong game in a starting role, holding the Lancers to 2 hits and struck out 6 over 5 innings.

Game 2 - Grace 7, Defiance 5
The Jackets' offense came alive in the second game but a big-inning for Grace proved to be the difference to finish Friday's action. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Anthony Silvera Jr., Jack Brubaker-Flood and Rosenberger all connected on RBI doubles to bring 4 runs around for the Yellow Jackets. The Lancers got 1 run back in their half of the fourth before erupting for 4 runs in the fifth. Two walks and a hit batter came back to bite DC to keep the inning alive for a go-ahead, two-run single. The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases in the seventh and worked a walk for one run, but were unable to deliver the big knock in the close loss.

Game 3 - Defiance 2, Grace 1
The Yellow Jackets, playing as the home team in Saturday's games, scored their first walk-off victory of the season with a gritty 2-1 win. After Bradyn Shaw gave the Jackets 6 quality innings with 1 unearned run allowed, Andy Yoder posted a clean inning to set up DC's chances in the last of the 7th frame. Anthony Silvera Jr. started the inning with a walk followed by a Connor Gephart single and another walk by Jack Brubaker-Flood. With the bases full and no outs, Dominic Jarjis lined a game-winning, two-run double to center to lift DC to the win.

Game 4 - Grace 9, Defiance 4
The Lancers claimed the series with a big offensive finish. Tied 3-3 through 4 innings, Defiance snagged the lead in the bottom of the fifth due to a one-out error by the Lancers that plated Shaw, who singled and advanced on a passed ball. Grace responded with a 6-run sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer off Devin Delzeith. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• For the weekend, the Yellow Jackets were outscored 20-12 while playing in three games decided by 2 runs or fewer. 
• As a team, Defiance socked 10 doubles for the weekend and slugged a team-high 4 extra-base hits in the series final. Jack Brubaker-Flood hit the team's lone home run of the series in Game 4.
• Aside from 5 walks in Game 1, Defiance's next three starting pitchers combined for just 2 walks allowed. 
• Connor Gephart was Defiance's top hitter for the weekend, going 5-for-13 with a double and was also hit by a pitch. The junior has hit safely in 7 of 8 games to start the year.
• Caleb Wurster got on base in bunches during Friday's doubleheader, working 3 hits and 2 walks in 8 plate appearances. He also was hit by a pitch in Saturday's first game.
• Logan Rosenberger had his first two-hit game in his college career and totaled 3 doubles during Friday's twinbill. He also pitched Saturday's second game, tossing 4.2 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits.
• Bradyn Shaw also had his first two-hit game in the series finale.
• Brubaker-Flood collected hits in three straight games and drove in a team-high 4 RBIs. He also walked twice in Saturday's action.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets travel to Rio Grande next weekend for a four-game series with the Red Storm. The two squads will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday beginning at noon.

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