GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 8 Davenport baseball team closed the first week of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference season Saturday with a pair of wins over Concordia. The Panthers had to come from behind a three-run deficit to take game one 7-3 while shutting out the Cardinals in game two 4-0 to complete the four-game sweep and improve to 11 straight wins.
 
Zac Wilson, Jordan Zylstra and Matt Priebe each had two hits to lead the Panthers (20-2, 6-0 WHAC). Cam Cooper had a hit including a key two-run triple in game one and two walks.
 
Game 1 – Davenport 7, Concordia 3
Corbin Clouse threw two shutout innings but ran into trouble in the third when three triples put the Cardinals (6-18, 1-5 WHAC) ahead 3-0.
 
Zylstra got the Panthers on the board with an RBI single to center in the fifth but it was the sixth inning that erased the deficit completely. Wilson reached on a single to right and Tyler Baratono got on base on a fielding error. Cooper would hit a lazy fly down the right field line but it was enough to score in the two runs with a triple.
 
One inning later, the Panthers took a 6-3 lead with four straight singles by Priebe, Sardellitti, Matt Hoge and Wilson. Davenport added one more run when Cooper hit into a doubleheader.
 
Clouse threw 5 1/3 innings allowing three runs on four hits and three walks. Ryan Butzer (2-0), Alex Schuiling and Jonathan Cheshire went the rest of the way shutting out the Cardinals.
 
Game 2 – Davenport 4, Concordia 0
The Panthers scored the eventual winning run without logging in a hit in the third. Wilson led off with a walk, moved to second on Hoge's sacrifice bunt, advanced to third when Dre Celestijn flew out to right and scored on the wild pitch.
 
Davenport added on to the lead in the sixth. After hitting two hard fly balls into the outfield, Brendan Bender sent the third one to the right field fence for a triple. Priebe followed with an RBI single to left field and Cable was hit by the pitch to set up a two-run double by Nolan Wilson.
 
Anthony Alarcon (3-0) carried the Panthers to the fifth inning conceding seven hits. Cheshire went back on the mound and threw two shutout innings.
 
The Panthers continue WHAC play Wednesday with crosstown rival Cornerstone visiting the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
 
Baseball Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-871-6180 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
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