A big inning in each game helped Defiance sweep Tiffin Columbian and Fremont Ross on Saturday at Booster Field. The Bulldogs used a seven-run third inning to beat Tiffin 7-3 in the opener, then scored six in the first inning of the nightcap en route to an 11-1 victory over Fremont to improve to 9-0 on the season.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs, which had played just one game in 11 days, got a lead-off walk from Drake Jimenez and a RBI double from Austin Hancock to get on the scoreboard. A Dom Gentile bunt single and a balk tied the game at two.
After an out, Derek Turner plated Gentile with a single. Austin Yant walked and Dom Romero loaded the bases with a bunt single. Joe Keween then walked, Wade Verhoff hit a sac fly and Jimenez capped the inning with a two-run double.
"We only won one of seven innings but we were able to take advantage of walks, bunt hits and some timely hits," DHS coach Tom Held said. "We kind of scored in every fashion you could name. Otherwise, Tiffin beat us three innings and we tied three, but the bottom line is we scored more runs."
Austin Hancock went five innings to pick up the victory with Mazen Kanouh and Weston Rivers finishing up. Rivers came in with two on and one out for the save.
Walks ignited the Bulldogs in game two with Hancock and Gentile reaching via base on balls before Rob Zeigler belted a three-run homer.
Tuner hit a single and, after a pitching change, Rivers was hit by a pitch. An out later, Romero reached on a bunt single to load the bases and Keween walked to force in a run. Jimenez had a sac fly and Hancock followed with a run-scoring single.
Rivers added a two-run home run in the second after Zeigler reached on a walk.
Zeigler went the distance in the five-inning game, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out 10.
"Robbie threw probably best has game-wise as far command," Held noted. "He only gave up two walks and was able to get the breaking ball over. He kept his velocity the whole game, maybe not as high as he has been, but was consistently 88 to 91."
Zeigler also had a big day at the plate, reaching base on six of eight appearances. Hancock, the leadoff hitter, reached base four times and score three runs on the day while number two hitter Gentile had three hits in the first game and was on base three of four at-bats in the second game.
"We got a lot of production out of the top of our order," Held said. "They really set the tone."
Defiance, which had just one error on the day, is back in action on Monday at Tinora.
Linescores
Tiffin Col. 110 010 0 - 3 5 3
Defiance 007 000 x - 7 7 1
Winning pitcher: Austin Hancock (5 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks). Others: Mazen Kanouhm Weston Rivers.
Losing pitcher: Windsor (3 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Schwartz.
Leading hitters: (Tiffin, 5 hits). (Defiance, 7 hits) - Dom Gentile 3 singles; Austin Hancock double; Drake Jimenez double.
Fremont Ross 100 00 - 1 2 1
Defiance 622 01 - 11 11 0
Records: Defiance 9-0, Fremont Ross 8-5/
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (5 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks).
Losing pitcher: Egbert (0 innings, 4 runs, 2 hits, 0 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Wilson.
Leading hitters: (Fremont, 2 hits) - Wolf double. (Defiance, 11 hits) - Austin Hancock single, triple; Rob Zeigler home run, 3 RBI; Weston Rivers home run; Joe Keween triple.