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BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – In two completely different games on the second day of the 2013 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament at Bailey Park, the Davenport softball team wound up with a 1-1 record and they will now have to come out of the loser's bracket to claim their second ever post-season title. DU walked off in game one as Carli SanMillan singled home the game winning run to defeat Madonna 5-4 but the Panthers fell by the slimmest of margins in game two falling 1-0 to Aquinas. Davenport will face Madonna again on Friday at 1 p.m. for a spot in the championship game.

Game 1 – W, 5-4 over Madonna

In a battle of the top two teams in the league over the past four seasons, it was the hitters and not the pitchers who took center stage. Madonna built an early 2-0 lead in the top of the third as they took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues by the Panthers. Davenport, which had scored all eight runs on Wednesday in their win over Siena Heights with two outs, got the scoring going in the bottom half of the inning when Debra Burton connected on her first homerun of the year to tie the game on a two-run blast with two outs to dead center field.

The Crusaders retook the lead in fifth on a single to left field and a DU error led to another and again the Panthers found themselves trailing by two. But just as they did in the third, DU rallied with two outs and with Katie Creighton on second, KC Dunne belted a 2-run to left to tie the score at 4-4.

Neither team posed any serious threat in the sixth and after a perfect 1-2-3 inning by Sam Cole in the top of the seventh, the stage was set for more DU dramatics. Karli Myers led off the inning with a walk but was followed by a pair of pop-outs. Debra Burton extended the inning with a single and then MU walked KC Dunne to get to Carli SanMillan who singled off the first base bag scoring Myers from third to post the 5-4 win.

Sam Cole got the win to improve to 21-6 on the year as the senior allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out five.

Game 2 – L, 1-0 to Aquinas

Looking to be the first team into the championship round, two Grand Rapids schools played in the lowest scoring game of the tournament thus far with the Saints coming up with one more play than DU to post the 1-0 win. Both teams had numerous chances to plate runs but the defense stood out especially from the Saints.

With the Panthers posing threats in the second and fourth innings, the Saints came up with a pair of defensive gems to keep DU off the board. The Aquinas shortstop made a diving play to prevent Ashleigh Blovsky to score in the second and then converted a line drive double play to end the fourth with a pair of DU runners on.

The Saints brought their own pressure to DU starter Kyleigh Linebaugh on the mound but the freshman worked out of it each time before being replaced by Sam Cole in the fifth. Unfortunately, the Panthers dug themselves into one hole they could not work out of as a defensive error led to the lone run of the game in the sixth as Aquinas posted the 1-0 win and will now await the winner of DU-Madonna in Friday's championship game at 3:30 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

The 1-0 loss in the winner's bracket finale marked the second straight year DU has lost by that score in that round…KC Dunne's homerun was her first since March 29 and her fourth of the year…Davenport has fallen to Aquinas in their last two meetings at the WHAC Tournament…DU is the highest seed remaining in the tournament after the top seed was eliminated on Thursday as Cornerstone fell to Aquinas (6-2) and Madonna (6-1)

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