DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College managed just two hits in a 4-0 setback to Transylvania in Saturday's opener and then suffered a 4-3 defeat in the second contest at Rutter Field.
The offenses were quiet in the early going, as both starting pitchers cruised into the fourth inning without allowing a hit. Chris Donese worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning, as the lone base runner for either side in the opening three frames.
Transylvania finally got on the board in the top of the fourth, pushing a pair of runs across for the 2-0 lead and Chris Bloch took care of the rest for the visitors. The senior southpaw carried a no-hitter into the fifth and ended with only two hits allowed over seven shutout innings in the 4-0 TU victory.
Brad Kremer and Bryn Lehman picked up the only hits of the game for DC, while Darin Waterman (1-2) struck out five over five innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits in the loss.
The Yellow Jacket bats continued to struggle at the start of the second contest, waiting until the fifth inning to break into the scoring column. The rally did not yield any runs until a wild pitch with two outs drew DC within 2-1. Andy Habecker and Kremer then laced RBI singles to give Defiance the 3-2 lead heading into the sixth inning.
TU came right back in its next at bat, using a two-out rally of its own to knot the score at 3-3 and turning away a Defiance threat in the bottom half to keep the game gridlocked into the ninth inning.
The Pioneers then capitalized on a leadoff hit batsman in the top of the ninth by bunting the runner into scoring position and driving in the go-ahead tally with a bouncing single up the middle for the 4-3 lead.
Defiance threatened once again in its final at bat by placing runners on first and second with two outs but could not produce the big hit to prevent the 4-3 win by Transylvania.
Lehman was the hitting star with three hits and a run scored for the Jackets, while Brandon Riley added two hits and Brad Kremer had two knocks and an RBI.
DC (7-11, 0-5 HCAC) will host Transylvania (10-8, 4-2 HCAC) once again on Sunday, with the two teams set to play the final game of the series beginning at noon.