Defiance at Rose-Hulman: Game One / Game Two

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Defiance College held on for a 7-5 win in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader to win the weekend set against the Engineers. The Yellow Jackets gave up five runs in the sixth of the early game and fell 7-3, but rebounded behind a strong pitching effort from Brad Timofeev to win the series finale.

After coming on to pitch the final three innings on Friday and earn his first collegiate victory, Brandon Portales was given the starting nod in Saturday’s opener and responded with another strong outing.

The lead changed hands four times in the first game with DC plating two in the top of the sixth inning to take the 3-2 lead. Kirk Jesse and Tim Pitro scored the tying and go-ahead runs.

The lead was short lived however as Portales ran out of gas after starting his ninth inning in less than 24 hours. The freshman allowed the first four Rose-Hulman batters to reach as the host squad tied the game and then took the 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly. Rose then reloaded the bases to knock Portales out of the game, and pushed the lead to 5-3 on a balk by reliever Cameron Cunert. Matt Pepelea then delivered the crushing blow with a two-run triple to make it a 7-3 ballgame.

The Engineers’ Luis Bougrat held DC scoreless the rest of the way, finishing off the complete game effort on the mound and moving to 4-0 on the season.

The Rose-Hulman sticks stayed hot early into the second game, plating a pair in the third for the quick 2-0 lead, but Defiance rallied in its very next at bat.

With two outs in the frame, Keith Wade cut the deficit in half with an RBI single. The Jackets then loaded the bases before Lenny Koesters pushed them to a 3-2 lead with a two-run single.

Defiance struck again in the sixth, jamming the bases with one out before Jesse pushed the lead to 4-2 on an RBI ground out and Pitro came up with more two-out magic for DC with a two-run single.

Wade roped another run producing single in the seventh to give Defiance the 7-2 advantage and plenty of cushion for the final innings.

The insurance tallies would prove valuable as Rose rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh off of Timofeev and Cunert.

The Jackets’ pen held strong however and Cunert tossed a scoreless eighth before handing the ball to DC’s closer, Pitro, for his third save of the season.

Timofeev went 6.2 innings and allowed only two earned runs for his third victory of the season.

Defiance (8-14, 3-6 HCAC) will play four key conference games at home in the upcoming week, hosting Manchester for a single game on Tuesday at 4:00 pm before welcoming Mount St. Joseph for three games on Friday and Saturday at Rutter Field.