Weekly Notes | WHAC Tournament Bracket | Davenport Athletics Network

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Postseason play is officially here and the No. 22 ranked softball team will begin it Wednesday in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament against UM-Dearborn at 6 p.m. The Panthers, who won the regular season title for the third time in the last four seasons, will be the top seed in the 8-team tournament that will be played at Pacesetter Park in Sylvania, Ohio. The championship game is set for Friday at 3 p.m. and live audio and stats will be provided for all Davenport games.
 
Scouting UM-Dearborn (18-26, 6-12 WHAC)
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2014
First Pitch: 6 p.m. EST (DH)
Location: Sylvania, Ohio
Live Links: Live Audio/Stats

The Wolverines enter the WHAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and have an overall record of 18-26 while they are 6-12 in league games. First year head coach Scott Combs and his team have the most wins in a single season since posting 31 during the 2010 campaign. Combs has been led by a very balanced group as Lindsay Taylor is tops in batting average at .391 followed by Jessica Thueme at .328. Theume also leads the team in HR's with two while Shanele Johnstone is tops with 12 RBI. As a team, the Wolverines have outscored their opponents by a combined 229-178. In the circle, UMD has been paced by Abby Jewel who has a 2.64 ERA and a 6-5 overall record. As a unit, the pitchers have combined for an ERA of 4.76.
 
Regular Season Sweep at Dearborn
Davenport won a pair of games vs. the Wolverines in a doubleheader played at Madonna University. The No. 23 ranked Lady Panthers posted two wins over host UM-Dearborn by the scores of 15-1 and 7-5 highlighted by 20 strikeouts from their three pitchers.
 
What's Next?
The series with Concordia will end the 2014 regular season for Davenport and they will be in action next at the WHAC Tournament from April 30 - May 2 in Sylvania, Ohio. DU will open play on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and will follow with a game at 8:30, win or lose. The tournament continues on Thursday with the championship game (s) set for Friday. The winner of the tournament will get an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament.
 
History in WHAC Tournament
Davenport enters the WHAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third time in the last four seasons and their other two seeds have been No. 2 (2013 and 2010) and No. 4 (2009). DU owns a 14-7 all-time in the postseason tourney that has always been held at Bailey Park in Battle Creek. The Panthers own two tourney titles (2011 and 2013) and went a perfect 4-0 during their title run in 2011 in which they beat Madonna on a walk-off grand slam. Davenport is 2-0 against UM-Dearborn in the tourney, their 2014 first round opponent, as they defeated the Wolverines twice in 2010.
 
What's Next?
Davenport has already gained an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round in which they will serve as one of ten opening site hosts. The Panthers will be making their third ever national tournament appearance as they also qualified in 2011 and 2013. The dates for the opening round tournament which will feature three other teams at the Farmers Athletic Complex, are May 12-14. All games will streamed live on the Davenport Athletics Network (DAN).
 
Softball Contact: Aaron Sagraves | 616-554-5045 | asagraves@davenport.edu
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