Not without bright spots, Florida unkind to Jackets

Clearwater, Fla.—Playing seven games in six days on their Spring Break road trip to Clearwater Florida, the Defiance College Baseball team lost their last five contests by one or two runs, falling to 0-7 to begin the 2005 season. Despite the losing record, there were several bright spots both on the mound and at the plate for the Jackets on the southern swing.

Junior James Yenser led DC at the plate on the week, hitting .368 with two RBI and three runs. Sophomore Phil Kosier, in his first consistent action for the Yellow Jackets, hit .308 with two doubles and two RBI.

After a rough first outing, junior Tyler Stork was untouchable in his second appearance, a 0-1 loss to Salem State at Hoyt Field in St. Petersburg. The Paulding native went six innings, giving up one earned run, while striking out seven in a three-hit effort.

Fellow junior Russ Lupica did likewise in the team’s last game against Nichols College, going 6.2 innings and giving up no earned runs on six hits, while striking out six in a 1-2 loss.

Game one of the trip at Miller Huggins field saw the Jackets fall behind early and were unable to keep up with Dickinson College, falling 2-10. Jeremy Hawkins and Richard Trick each went 2-for-5 with Hawkins driving in one of the DC runs.

A double header on Monday pitted the Jackets against Framingham State at Jack Russell Stadium. The first game saw Lupica get the loss as DC fell 2-10. Defiance fell behind 1-7 in the second game before putting four across in the top of the fourth to get back in the game. A 3-for-4 effort by senior Cris Newcomb was not enough, as DC lost 5-7.

Playing at the University of Tampa on Tuesday, the Jackets took on Colby Sawyer with senior Mike Mirabelli on the mound. The Munster, Indiana product showed plenty of grit, throwing 116 pitches and giving up three earned runs in eight innings of work. DC was unable, however, to recover from four errors in the 3-5 loss.

During Stork’s great outing on Wednesday, Defiance was unable to get any offense going but played error-free on the defensive end in the 0-1 loss to Salem State.

The DC bats came alive at Seminole High School against Nichols College in game one. Taking a 5-0 lead, the Jackets gave up six runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. With a runner in scoring position in the top of the seventh, the Jackets were unable to push the run across and fell 6-7. James Yenser went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run, while Eric Tipton went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Lupica’s great outing in game two was coupled with just three hits by the DC bats as Nichols took the final game of the Jacket road trip 1-2.

Despite the rough start the Yellow Jackets got a good look at some new talent heading into the conference race. Freshmen Dusty Ahrens and Derek Hanson both showed their mettle in the trip. Ahrens hit .293 and scored three runs, while Hanson struck out nine and gave up just one walk in 8.10 innings of action. Sophomore Chad Casey appeared in relief in three games, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out one.