CALEDONIA, Mich. – The Panthers bounced back from a pair of losses against Grand Valley last night to sweep Northwood at home tonight. The two wins are very significant as they put Davenport back into second place, above Northwood in the standings. Mallory Teunissen did her thing in game one and freshman Taylor Simon held her own in game two. Combined the two only gave up seven hits in the doubleheader and only two runs, with both being earned runs. The momentum of the sweep should help with the Panthers next doubleheader, which is against Grand Valley State on Saturday.
 
Game 1-Wednesday, April 10 at 2:30 p.m.
Final Score: Davenport University-3 | Northwood-2
Location: Caledonia, Mich.
Records: DU (18-16, 10-7) | NU (20-16-1, 10-7)


 
Inside The Box
Gabby Palazzolo (0-3, R, BB)
Abby Merice (1-3, RBI)
Selene Pauley (0-2, R, BB)
Lauren French (0-1, HBP, SH)
Madison Jewell (0-0, R)
Kennedy Crawford (2-3, 2 RBI, 2B)
Teunissen (W, 11-5) 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO
 
Davenport struck first, scoring in the first inning. Merice hit a single to right field, scoring Palazzolo. Neither team scored in the second and third inning. Northwood got on the board and tied the game in the top of the fourth off a double. The Panthers quickly took back the lead with a Crawford double to left center that scored Jewell, who was pinch running. The Timberwolves responded with a run of their own in the fifth, tying the game 2-2. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, with the score still 2-2, Crawford came up with a huge hit. She singled up the middle and sent in Pauley for the eventual game-winning run. Teunissen went one, two, three in the top of the seventh to close out the game and give DU the win.
 
Game 2-Wednesday, April 10 at 4:30 p.m.
Final Score: Davenport University-6 | Northwood-0
Location: Caledonia, Mich.
Records: DU (19-16, 11-7) | NU (20-17-1, 10-8)


 
Inside The Box
Palazzolo (2-3, 2 R, SH, 2 SB)
Rachel Griffin (2-4, R, RBI, 2B)
Merice (2-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB)
French (1-3, R)
Rylie Kalina (0-1, R, 2 BB)
Pauley (1-2, R, SH, SB)
Alexis Koza (1-3, RBI)
Taylor Simon (W, 1-2) 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, SO
 
Game two was all about the defense for both teams, that was up until the final couple innings. The first through fourth inning saw zero runs from either team. Davenport got on the board first with a single by Griffin up the middle that scored Palazzolo, which was the eventual game-winning run. The Panthers poured it on in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs to build their lead up to six runs. During a couple of funky plays, a couple catching errors by the second baseman to be specific, the Panthers scored two runs. Koza and Meric each recorded RBI's in the inning. Koza singled to left field, scoring Kalina, and then Merice singled up the middle to score Griffin and Palazzolo. French, Kalina, Pauley, Griffin, and Palazzolo all scored in the inning. Simon found herself in a tough situation late in the game, the bases were loaded in the top of the seventh with two outs. She got the batter to ground out to her to end the game and Simon earned her first collegiate win at Davenport!




 
Up Next
Davenport looks forward to this Saturday, when they get to face Grand Valley State again. The Panthers are looking for their first-ever win against the Lakers.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Chris duMond