Stevens, Webb notch home runs as Baseball falls 6-2 at Defiance
By Wes Mayberry
DEFIANCE — Sophomore Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) and junior Nate Webb (Bath, Ind./Union County) both homered for the Ohio Northern baseball team in a 6-2 loss to Defiance on Wednesday at Rutter Field.
The Polar Bears fall to 18-20 on the season, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 9-25 overall.
Coming off his 3-homer game in Sunday's 11-1 win over Oberlin, Webb added a solo shot to left field in the eighth inning Wednesday to put ONU up 2-1.
Stevens got the scoring started with a one-out solo homer in the top of the first inning.
Defiance responded with an RBI double from Nate Kaffenbarger in the bottom of the frame to tie the score at 1-all.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with three consecutive singles to begin the frame.
That brought Trent Murdock to the plate, and he proceeded to hit a grand slam to left field that gave Defiance a 5-2 edge.
The Yellow Jackets tacked on another run via an RBI double from Mitchell Roever to cap the scoring.
Senior Tom Pitko (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) got the pitching start for the Polar Bears and put together a solid outing, giving up just one run on three hits and one walk while striking out five.
Webb finished the game with a team-high two hits for ONU, and senior Chayten Overholt (Delphos/Lincolnview) and junior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater) each hit a double.
Defiance out-hit ONU by a 10-7 margin.
The Polar Bears return to action on Friday for their regular-season finale as they host a doubleheader with Ohio Athletic Conference foe Wilmington starting at 1 p.m.