CALEDONIA, Mich. – The Panthers have been right on the edge of earning a sweep in their past three conference doubleheaders, but came away with a huge sweep today! Davenport downed the Eagles of Ashland University in two games, boosting the Panthers to second place in the conference. The two wins could be crucial when it comes to seeding in the conference tournament.
 
Game 1-Sunday, April 7 at 11:00 a.m.
Final Score: Davenport University-2 | Ashland-1
Location: Caledonia, Mich.
Records: DU (16-14, 8-5) | AU (23-12, 9-6)


 
Inside The Box
Gabby Palazzolo (1-3, R)
Lauren French (1-2, RBI, BB)
Alexa Flores (1-3, RBI)
Kennedy Crawford (0-1, R, SH)
Mallory Teunissen (W, 9-4) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
 
The first game showcased two of the top pitchers in the GLIAC, Teunissen and Laney Jones. The two gave up a combined nine hits in the game and only three runs. Teunissen and the rest of the defense prevailed in game one, holding the Eagles to only one run. The two Davenport runs came in the third inning and proved to be the game tying and winning runs in the game. The game-tying run went to Crawford, who scored off a single by French. The game-winning run belonged to Palazzolo, who scored off a Flores single. In the last four innings, Teunissen only gave up one hit and struck out two batters. She secured her ninth win of the season.
 
Game 2-Sunday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m.
Final Score: Davenport University-5 | Ashland-4
Location: Caledonia, Mich.
Records: DU (17-14, 9-5) | AU (23-13, 9-7)
 
Inside The Box
Palazzolo (3-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B, SB)
Mariah Cura (1-3, R, 2B)
Alexis Koza (1-2, R, RBI, HBP)
Jorden Urban (0-2, R, SH)
Ellie Muilenburg 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
Teunissen (W, 10-4) 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
 
The first inning gave the impression that game two would be extremely high scoring, but each pitcher settled quickly. Each team scored two runs in the first, and then both went scoreless in the second and third inning. The runs for Davenport came from Abby Merice reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, scoring French and Palazzolo. Davenport took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Koza singled down the left field line and scored Cura. The Eagles wouldn't fold easily, they scored two in the top of the sixth off a homer by their leading hitter, Dayna Denner. The Panthers now found themselves down 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Palazzolo came up with the most clutch hit of her DU career. She singled to right field, scoring Urban and Koza on the play and putting Davenport back up by one run. In the top of the seventh, Teunissen gave up a double to the first batter, then got the second batter to fly out. She then resided the next batter with a strikeout. Denner came up to bat and Teunissen intentionally walked her to put runners on first and second with two outs. Teunissen showed her experience in pressures situations by striking out the next batter and ending the game. She earned win number 10 on the season.


 
Coaches Corner
"We know every game in this league is going to be a battle. It was nice to see our fight and pull out two wins." – Head Coach McCall Salmon
 
Up Next
Davenport takes to the road early next week for a makeup doubleheader against Grand Valley State. The games are on Tuesday in Allendale, with game one starting at 3:30 p.m.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Chris duMond