Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

KENTWOOD, Mich. – The Davenport baseball team swept their weekend series against the Saints of Siena Heights today at East Kentwood High School.  The Panthers won game one convincingly with a 10-0 mercy of the Saints, while winning game two in another come from behind victory, this time a 6-5 win.

Game One

Davenport started Sunday's double-header with an impressive 10-0 win over Siena Heights.  The Panthers plated three runs in the first, two in the third, and five in the fourth on the strength of 13 hits.  In the first inning Cam Cooper got things started with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.  Eric Cummings would sacrifice Cooper to third and then Brandon Bongard would single to score Cooper.  Austin Licon would then come to the plate and double to left center to give the Panthers runners on second and third.  Jotham Woo would single in Bongard and advance Brian Spykerman (pinch running for Licon) to third.  Mike Allen would then drive in Spykerman on a single to left field.

The biggest inning for the Panther offense was in the fourth when Cam Cooper led off the inning with a double to center field.  Eric Cummings would again sacrifice bunt to get Cooper to third opening the door for Bongard to single in Cooper.  Austin Licon would then come to bat and single, which would advance Bongard to third and eventually score on a Jotham Woo slow roller to first.  Derrick Gentile would single after a Mike Allen walk to score Spykerman (again running for Licon).  Allen would score on a wild pitch, which also advanced Gentile to second.  Drew Kennedy would then help his own cause by singling to right center to score Gentile.

Offensively the Panthers were led by a number of hitters in game one, Brandon Bongard, Austin Licon, Jotham Woo, and Drew Kennedy all went 2 for 4 in game one and Mike Allen went 1 for 2.  Bongard would also score two runs and drive in two RBI.  Woo also had two RBI and scored once, while Kennedy also had two RBI.  Allen also found his way on base by earning a base on balls as well as being hit by a pitch.

Drew Kennedy was the starter in game one for the Panther pitching staff and gave the team an outstanding performance to earn his fourth victory of the season.  Kennedy pitched a complete game three hit shutout going seven innings; walked one and struck out three.  Kennedy's pitching performance was the icing on top of the cake that was his two game winning hits from day one of this weekend set with Siena Heights.

Game Two

Early on in game two, things looked as though they would be the end of the Panthers' series sweep aspirations as the Panther bats had gone silent with only one run on five hits through six innings.  However the as the Panthers proved all weekend, they may have been down, but they were never out. 

After falling down 5-1 entering the bottom of the seventh and final inning, seniors Derrick Gentile and Drew Kennedy took a combined eight straight pitches to earn back to back walks to start the Panther seventh.  Next came another senior, Brian Spykerman who in a pinch hitting role moved Gentile and Kennedy up with a slow ground ball to third forcing the Saints third baseman to make the play at first to retire Spykerman.  Freshman Cam Cooper than singled to center field to score Gentile and advance Kennedy to third.  Sophomore Eric Cummings followed Cooper with a single of his own to push Kennedy across and advance Cooper to third. 

Next came senior Brandon Bongard who singled through the left side to score Cooper and advance Cummings to second base.  Then came a double from the bat of senior Austin Licon, which scored Cummings to tie the game at five, and advanced the potential game-winning run in Bongard to third with one out.  Siena Heights elected to intentionally walk Jotham Woo in order to set up a potential double-play opportunity.  However, junior Mike Allen would have none of that and hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bongard and secure the series sweep for the Panthers.

Zach Liebman was the starting pitcher in game two for the Panthers and pitched well for the second time this week.  Liebman would pitch five innings giving up 10 hits but only three runs, no walks and striking out four.  Corey Anderson would pitch two innings in relief for the Panthers giving up two runs on two hits and three walks.  However Anderson would get the win, his third on the season.  

Post-Game Quotes – Kevin Tidey

On the performance of Drew Kennedy – It was great to see Drew step up at the plate and on the mound this weekend for us when we needed him.  We joked that since we got him a new bat, the credit really has to be given to the bat.

On the character shown this weekend – I was impressed with the guys this weekend, they showed a lot of character with three come from behind wins.  We easily could have quit and gone 1-3 this weekend but our guys showed heart and kept at it.


Post-Game Notes – The day one sweep moves the Panthers to 32-15; 17-7 WHAC… The Panthers 32 wins ties the school record for wins in a season… With 17 conference wins, the Panthers have far out paced any conference mark in school history… Davenport is now 13-3 all-time versus Siena Heights… The Panthers are now sitting alone in second place in the WHAC, two games back of league leader Indiana Tech and one game up on Madonna… DU plays again Wednesday April 25, 2012 versus Alma College… First pitch scheduled for 2:05pm… Check out www.dupanthers.com to follow the Panthers all season long via LiveStats.


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