ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Davenport baseball team began the 2018 season in frigid conditions on Saturday (Feb. 17) as they played a pair of seven-inning games at No. 6 (NAIA) Missouri Baptist. The Panthers (1-1) nearly pulled off the sweep losing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh in game one before rallying for a 7-4 win in game two.

GAME 1
The bats were as cold as the weather for both teams who combined for 10 hits. Grant Wolfram got the opening day start for Davenport after an All-American season in 2017. He was not as precise as many of his starts last season going 4.2 innings. He allowed four hits, two runs and three walks while also striking out five. Robby Brewster was sharp for the Spartans going six innings and allowing four hits and one walk.

This game would come down to the bullpen as Krystien Johnson-Battilana took the ball in the fifth inning and Hayden Crowe pitched in the seventh for Missouri Baptist. The game was scoreless into the bottom of the fifth when Wolfram ran into trouble. He walked leadoff hitter General McArthur with two outs and then Jonathan Pasillas and Gabriel Castillo delivered RBI singles. Johnson-Battilana struck out the final hitter of the fifth and got some run support in the sixth as Nolan Bryant hit a one-out, two-run homer to right. Zac Wilson founded with a double but was stranded at third.

Crowe made quick work of the Panthers striking out all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh. McArthur started the seventh inning rally with a one-out single and then stole second. Pasillas then ended it with a walk-off single through the right side. DU left three on base while the Spartans stranded seven. 

GAME 2
The Panthers earned the split with a 7-4 win in the nightcap thanks to a five-run third inning. The Spartans scored twice in the first off starter Andrew Click who lasted 3.2 innings. Davenport got after Gary Watkins of MBU in the third and chased him to take a 5-2 lead. Watkins retired the first six batters before Jacob Buchberger singled up the middle to lead off the third. Noah Marcoux singled through the right side advancing Buchberger to third base. Austin Lansky had a RBI single to score Buchberger. Austin Petravicius tied it up with a RBI single to score pinch runner Connor Zuidema.

Bryant had his third RBI of the day with a single to left as pinch runner Aaron Fadden scored the third run. Alex Huard later reached on a fielder's choice and got a RBI. Davenport had five hits and the Spartans committed two errors in the top of the third.

Davenport built their lead to 7-2 in the top of the fourth as Lansky doubled to start the inning. Wilson later had a RBI single through the right side and was thrown out at second which allowed the seventh run to score. Click gave up two runs in the bottom of the fourth as McArthur doubled down the left field line off reliever Justin Palmbos. Palmbos then buckled down and left the bases loaded to preserve the three-run lead.

Palmbos went on to strike out the side in the fifth and retire the first two hitters in the sixth before back-to-back walks. He stranded those runners in the sixth and then faced three batters in the seventh to earn his first save as a Panther. He finished with 3.1 innings and did not allow a hit after the first batter he faced in the fourth. Click and Palmbos combined to strike out nine Spartans.

Bryant went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Lansky also had a pair of hits in three at-bats. Buchberger walked twice and stole a base starting at third base. The Panthers are off now until the start of their spring trip which begins on Sunday, Feb. 25. The team will play a doubleheader against Gannon University in Auburndale, Fla. beginning at 12:30 p.m.