SCORE: Earlham 9, Defiance 1
LOCATION: Richmond, Indiana – Randal R. Sadler Stadium
RECORDS: Earlham 13-7 / Defiance 4-16

RICHMOND, Indiana – Three Earlham College home runs ultimately proved to be all the offense the Quakers would need as the Maroon and White downed visiting Defiance, 9-1, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball matchup on Wednesday at Sadler Stadium.

Defiance posted its lone run of the game in the first inning Nate Kaffenbarger's grounder to short that plated Lucas Thomeier.

The Yellow Jackets held that lead into the home half of the third when Earlham's Brian Pincura drew a one-out walk and eventually crossed on a wild pitch, tying the game at 1-1.

Earlham finally took the lead in the fourth on Christian Lancianese's solo home run, with Cameron Wissel scoring later in the frame on a sac fly to extend the Quakers' lead to 3-1.

Austin Hatfield's round-tripper in the fifth put Earlham in front, 4-1, and the lead became 5-1 in the sixth when two Defiance errors allowed Marc Gendreau to get aboard and later score.

Three Earlham hits and two Defiance errors worked together to get three Quaker runs across and give the Maroon and White an 8-1 advantage. Maxwell Fries belted his first collegiate home run in the eighth inning, putting Earlham in front 9-1, with a solo shot over the "Maroon Monster" in left field.

Earlham starter Phoenix Guzzi earned the win after holding Defiance to just four hits with two strikeouts over five complete innings of work.

NEXT UP:
Earlham baseball will face Mount St. Joseph on Saturday, April 10, at 1:00 p.m. in an HCAC doubleheader.