April 27, 2005

Jacket Softball blasts four HRs vs. Bluffton, split series

BLUFFTON, Ohio— The Defiance College Softball squad split with Bluffton University on Wednesday afternoon in Bluffton, Ohio.

Sophomore pitcher Alicia Allen outdid BU’s All-American Sarah Betts by throwing all eight innings in the 3-2 extra-inning game one win. Allen gave up just two earned runs on 11 hits, striking out two and walking one. Renee Steffen homered in the first of two eighth-inning runs for DC after Kacy VanderHorst got the Jackets on the board with a fourth-inning solo-shot down the left field line.

Kacy VanderHorst later singled to center field after Steffen’s blast to add the winning run by Kalette Peters, who had previously doubled.

Game two saw DC freshman Robin Diers take the mound, where she gave up four earned runs on nine hits with a K. Mandy Crank came on in relief to retire seven of nine batters, while allowing one unearned run. Kelsey Sugg had an RBI in her 1-for-2 game, while Chris Moreo drove in two runs on a first-inning home run to center field. Peters was 1-for-4 in game two with Monica Sigurdson adding a 1-for-2 day. Steffen followed Moreo’s dinger with her second homerun of the day, a two-run drive to left field in the third to give the Jackets a 5-4 lead.

Bluffton would capitalized on two of their own home runs to score six unanswered runs to take the night cap, 9-5.

The Yellow Jackets are now 20-11 overall with a 10-2 record in the Heartland Conference. DC will wrap up their regular season when they host Ohio Northern on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Transylvania on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

The Pioneers rank just ahead of Defiance in the race for the top seed in the conference tournament with an 8-0 HCAC mark.