Site: Wyoming, Mich. (Kimble Field)
Game 1 Score: Davenport 1, Aquinas 0 (10 Innings)
WP: Bender (3-1), LP: DeClarke (1-1), Save: None
Game 2 Score: Aquinas 5, Davenport 3
WP: Penny (4-1), LP: Dahlstrom (1-1), Save: None
Records: DU (35-15, 21-6 WHAC), AQ (20-15, 10-8 WHAC)
Next DU event: Friday, April 25 – at Concordia – DH (Ann Arbor, Mich.) – 2 p.m.
 
WYOMING, Mich. – Brendan Bender went the distance for the first time in his Davenport career, throwing 10 innings and adding seven strikeouts to it, and the Panthers took advantage of a key error in the 10^th to score the only run in game one at Aquinas Wednesday afternoon. After a short break, the Panthers took an early lead but the Saints answered back and used a four-run second inning to steal game two 5-3. The Panthers finish the day 35-15 overall, 21-6 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, and heads to Concordia to wrap up the regular-season Friday at 2 p.m.
 
Davenport still holds on to first place in the WHAC standings with a .778 win percentage but Northwestern Ohio gained ground with a pair of road wins over Lourdes, bumping its record to 18-6 (.750) in the league.
 
Game 1: Davenport 1, Aquinas 0 (10 Innings)
Bender (3-1), who was given double duties as a two-way player, scattered five hits and two walks on the mound while producing the game's only double at the plate.
 
Ryan Manning had two of the Panthers six hits tallied on the board.
 
Both Bender and Saint starter Kaleb Ort had escaped several threats throughout the scheduled nine innings. Davenport left nine runners on base throughout the contest while the Saints (20-15, 10-8 WHAC) have left seven.
 
The lone run in the 10^th came when Tyler Baratono drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt by the catcher. Cody Greear's groundout moved the shortstop to third and Zac Wilson hit a grounder to the first baseman but the throw home to tag out Baratono was offline.
 
Aquinas had a rally opportunity in its half of the third. A leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt and groundout put the tying run at third but the Panthers escaped with the win with another groundout to second baseman Jordan Zylstra.
 
Game 2: Aquinas 5, Davenport 3
Davenport's offense quickly got two runs across in the first inning using a singles by Zac Wilson and Ryan Manning, a double by Bender and a walk by EJ Grochowalski.
 
After the Panthers defense helped Blake Dahlstrom (1-1) escape a jam in the first, two errors in the second proved to be costly as the Saints scored four runs to take a lead for the first time on the day.
 
Dahlstrom was responsible for five runs in the 2 1/3 innings in his outing. He also surrendered six hits. Alex Schuiling closed out the third inning for the starting pitcher and Jonathan Cheshire went the rest of the way scattering two hits.
 
Davenport got its third run in the fourth inning when Eric Cummings hit a two-out single and scored on Baratono's base hit.
 
Post-Game Notes
Davenport has a 13-11 edge in the all-time series with Aquinas…Although he went 1-for-3 in game one, Cody Greear went hitless in three official at-bats to end his school-record hit streak at 18…Davenport's five hits recorded in game two is the fewest since game four of the Lourdes series (4)
 
Baseball Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-871-6180 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
DU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Baseball: Twitter | Facebook