DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College closed its six-game homestand on Tuesday by scoring a season-high nine runs in a 9-2 win over Goshen College. The victory improved the Jackets to 3-4 overall since returning from their season-opening trip to Fort Myers, Florida.

DC wasted little time taking control of the game, as the Goshen starting pitcher fueled a five-run rally in the bottom of the second inning by hitting the first three batters of the inning. Bryn Lehman then cleared the bases when his single up the middle was followed by a throwing error to give Defiance a 3-0 cushion. The next two Jackets would draw walks to load the bases again, before a Nick Welling single and a Zach Stallkamp ground out pushed the spread to 5-0.

The lead would eventually grow to 9-1, as Defiance added runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. The Jackets ended the game with eight hits, with two each coming from Lehman, Riley and Welling. Lehman added a pair of RBI, while Riley scored twice and Welling stole two bases.

The offensive onslaught was more than enough for sophomore Jake Taylor, who took a perfect game into the fourth and picked up his first win of the season by hurling five efficient innings. The righty racked up five strike outs and allowed only one run on three hits.

Alex Schomaeker, Todd Odell and Aaron Patterson made sure the lead held up, as all three entered for scoreless outings out of the Yellow Jacket bullpen and combined to hold Goshen to no runs and just one hit in 3.2 innings.

Defiance (3-1) has now posted a 3.38 earned-run average as a team in seven games since coming north from its Florida trip and will look to continue the strong pitching in a three-game set at Rose-Hulman (10-4) over the weekend. The Jackets will open their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference slate with a single game against R-H on Friday at 6:00 pm and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.