Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Gannon Box Score| Saint Xavier Box Score | Varnesdeel Interview | Greenfield Interview | Cole Interview

CLERMONT, Fla. – Davenport opened their season today at the NTC Spring Games in which Sam Cole threw all 14 innings in route to victories over NCAA D2 Gannon University (3-2) and #24 Saint Xavier University (8-7). The 2-0 Panthers will be back in action tomorrow at 9:00am and 11:00am at the NTC Sports Complex.

Against Gannon University the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Liz Veltman scored on a sacrifice fly from Katie Cornman. Two batters later Paige Sant'Angelo recorded her first collegiate hit, followed by an RBI double from Debra Burton to give DU a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers tacked on a much needed insurance run in the fifth off the bat of Morgan Greendfield to score Ali Dawson from first. Up 3-0 heading into the seventh Gannon recorded two unearned runs but the Panthers held off for the 3-2 victory.

Sam Cole went the distance pitching seven complete innings, giving up just four hits with five strikeouts.

Facing off against fellow NAIA opponent #24 Saint Xavier in game two Davenport saw themselves fall behind early 1-6. The momentum shifted in the fifth as Saint Xavier walked five straight batters and then hit one in route to a five run inning to tie the game 6-6.

In the sixth Greenfield connected on a double to right center to score Amber Getty followed by a RBI single from Liz Veltman to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead heading into the seventh. Saint Xavier put the pressure on in the seventh scoring one to cut the DU lead to just one with only one out in the inning and a runner on first.

Cole was able to get the next two batters to pop out and ground out to seal the 8-7 victory and complete her 14 inning day on the mound.

Senior Morgan Greenfield was 2-5 on the day with three RBI's including the eventual game winning RBI against Gannon and Debra Burton had two hits and two RBI's on the day as well.

Davenport will be back in action tomorrow when they face off against NCAA D2 Saint Anselm at 9:00am and Goshen College at 11:00am. Both games can be heard live on “The Dan” and live stats will be available on www.dupanthers.com.

Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Ronda Varnesdeel on her teams mindset today: “Our mindset was to trust our off season preparation and as long as we went out and played the game to our abilities that we could come out successful on day one. We had some bumps along the way but timing hitting allowed us to garner two wins today.”

Senior Morgan Greenfield on her approach at the plate: “I went up every time just looking for my favorite pitch to drive out of the infield. I felt like I was seeing the ball really well and I was confident in my swing. Mainly I just wanted to do my part in helping out our team.”

Junior Sam Cole on her off season preparation:”We threw a lot of live hitting throughout our practices which allowed me to see various batters and throw my movement pitches with more confidence which I had trouble with last year.

Cole on the overall team effort made today: “We had our ups and downs throughout the day but as a team we continued to stay positive, work through adversity and cheer each other on. If I missed a pitch I knew my defense behind me would be there to pick me up.

Post-Game Notes

Davenport is now 4-3 against NCAA D2 teams and 8-16 against NAIA Top 25 teams…The Panthers improve to 2-2 all-time in season openers and 97-9 when scoring five or more runs

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