DEFIANCE, OHIO – Manchester University's offensive juggernaut continued to roll along Tuesday, April 28.

The Spartans, winning for the eighth time in the last nine games, continued to keep the pressure on the top of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 10-5 win at Defiance College's Craig A. Rutter Field. After the two sides traded three-run rallies in the first two frames, the visitors managed to break away with a six-run outbreak spread over the third through seventh innings.

Senior shortstop Trevor Kimm (Anderson, Ind.) and sophomore first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.) guided a 17-hit attack. Kimm went four-for-five with two doubles, while Szarenski rapped four hits in five at-bats as well with three RBIs to boot. Senior second baseman Logan Hug (Indianapolis, Ind.) joined Szarenski to form a formidable four-five section of MU's line-up, as he drilled two hits and drove in three runs.

Hug and junior outfielder James Tarner (Vicksburg, Mich.) each belted RBI doubles in a key three-run third that overturned a 4-3 deficit. With that effort opening the aforementioned game-deciding rally, freshman pitcher Deric Haynes (Goshen, Ind.) picked up where he left off from his start in the final game of the Hanover series this past weekend, blanking the Yellowjackets (15-17 overall, 10-14 HCAC) on four hits and striking out two over four frames out of the bullpen for his first win. Senior Jordan Nieman (Michigan City, Ind.), who saw his on-base skein improve to 35 games in a row on offense, added another solid pitching performance with his second save of the season, going one and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts and not allowing a runner to reach base.

The Black, sitting just a half-game out of second and a game out of first on the loop standings, conclude the regular season Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2. Franklin College visits Gratz Field for a 4:15 p.m. single game Friday and a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

NOTES: In the recent span of success, Manchester University has seen glowing totals from the offense and pitching staff. The Spartans are hitting .354 and have out-scored the opposition 74-43, while their pitching has produced a svelte 3.89 earned run average with 50 strikeouts and only 35 earned runs allowed in 81 innings.