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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In their first of three doubleheaders this week, the Davenport softball team traveled to Cornerstone to battle the Golden Eagles.  The Panthers came away with two shutout victories (2-0; 5-0) and raised their season record to 27-13.  DU will host UM-Dearborn on Friday.  There will be lots of activities at the game in support of Domestic Violence.

The story of the day was defense.  DU allowed only three hits over two games and committed only one error.  Cornerstone has only been shutout two other times this season.

The first four innings of game one remained scoreless until Morgan Greenfield homered in the fifth to put the Panthers up 1-0.  That was only Greenfield's second homerun of the year.

Davenport added their second run of the game in the sixth when Ashleigh Blovsky's single to left field brought Katie Cornman across home plate.  Blovsky's RBI was her 18th of the season.

Despres finished her fourth shutout of the year with 12 strikeouts and brought her season record to 9-4.

The Panthers wasted no time in game two as they got out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.  Amber Getty started the game with a double to left field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Greenfield.  Katie Cornman sent her ninth homer over the fence which brought in Getty.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that DU added another run.  Deb Burton doubled to center field then Ali Dawson brought her in with a single to right field putting the Panthers up 3-0.

Davenport added a fourth run in the fifth inning when Liz Veltman scored the unearned run after a fielding error by CU advanced her to third base.  DU's fifth and final run was scored in the sixth inning after Cornman doubled to left field and Veltman drove her in on a single to right field.

Sam Cole earned her 16th win of the year on the mound and totaled six strikeouts.

Post-Game Comments

Pitcher Sam Cole

On team's defensive play – “We've worked really hard on our defense the past week and I was just really pleased with how they did.  They performed very well, like they're supposed to.”

On her confidence gained from team's defensive – “I can take a little more risks when I pitch knowing that if the ball does get hit they'll catch it or they're going to dive in the outfield and catch it.”

Head Coach Ronda Varnesdeel

On team's play – “We really played team softball.  We settled in and worked hard on that the last couple weeks.  We supported our pitching staff which we haven't done on a consistence basis and that led to us getting more comfortable offensively.”

On confidence gained for the rest of the week – “Every win is important from here on out.  Our objective is to take care of business.  We know that we control our own destiny and our philosophy from here on out is to go all in and do what we can to win another WHAC championship.”

Post-Game Notes

Davenport has recorded shutouts in their last three outings…they have seven on the season…Cornman led the offense with four hits and two RBIs this afternoon…DU now stands at 6-2 in the WHAC and is 11-4 all-time against Cornerstone

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