The Defiance baseball team ran its record to 4-0 on the season after defeating Eastwood 1-0 and Napoleon 8-2 on Saturday at Defiance's Booster Field.
In the opener, righty Austin Hancock scattered four hits and struck out four to help lead the Bulldogs to the narrow victory. Defiance also took advantage of an Eastwood error in the second inning to score the only run of the game.
"We were hoping to get four or five innings out of Austin (who had Tommy John surgery last summer), but he got ahead of hitters, worked quickly and threw strikes," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "For him to come out here and have command like that, after not having throw to live pitching since the ACME season his freshman year, is a credit to his hard work."
In the bottom of the second, Defiance's Weston Rivers was hit by a pitch, before Wade Verhoff came on to pinch run. With one out, Verhoff stole second, and moved to third when Drake Jimenez reached on an error. Verhoff scored when Jimenez broke for second, and the throw to Eastwood's shortstop went off his glove for an error.
In the nightcap, Defiance ace Rob Zeigler struggled with his command early, but the righty only allowed one run and no hits while striking out 10 and walking six. Leading 2-1 after three innings, the Bulldogs broke it open in the fourth with three runs.
Rivers began the fourth was a walk before being lifted for pinch-runner Wes Detter, who quickly moved to third on a wild pitch. Joe Keween drove in Detter with a sac fly, before Jacob Green flew out. With two outs, Adam Schaffer reached based on a walk and promptly stole second base.
Schaffer scored the second run of the inning when Jimenez reached safely on an error. Jimenez then moved up 90 feet and Zeigler walked. Derek Turner then delivered a RBI single to score Jimenez.
"With the wind blowing straight in, that made it difficult on the hitters today," Held said. "I thought our guys did a great job of getting the ball down on the ground and also coming through with some timely hits. We were also able to take advantage of some errors and score some big runs.
"Robbie (Zeigler) struggled with his control in the first two innings, but after that he settled down and retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced," added Held. "He was able to get people out when he didn't have his good stuff ... it was good to see him battle out there."
Defiance returns to action Monday when it hosts Paulding.
Linescores
Eastwood 000 000 0 - 0 4 2
Defiance 010 000 x - 1 2 0
Winning pitcher: Austin Hancock (7 innings, 0 runs, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks).
Losing pitcher: Grant Peters (6 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks).
Leading hitters: (Eastwood, 4 hits) - Matt Drown double. (Defiance, 2 hits) - Rob Zeigler double.
Napoleon 100 000 1 - 2 2 2
Defiance 002 312 x - 8 3 0
Records: Defiance 4-0.
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (52/3 innings, 1 runs, 0 hits, 10 strikeouts, 6 walks). Other: Mazen Kanouh.
Losing pitcher: Wes Rickenberg (32/3 innings, 4 runs, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts, 8 walks). Other: David Yunker.
Leading hitters: (Napoleon, 2 hits). (Defiance, 3 hits) - Mazen Kanouh double.