LANSING, Mich. - Sophomore outfielder Gaetano Vallone faced the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning against one of the best closer in NCAA Division II and it did not faze him. Vallone sent a 0-1 pitch just over the right field wall off Ashland's Perry Bewley to give Davenport a 6-2 lead and they would close it out in the top of the ninth to send the Panthers to their 13th straight win and a spot in the GLIAC Tournament championship game scheduled for 11:00 AM tomorrow morning. The Panthers will await two more games to be decided at Jackson Field before knowing their opponent.

The game was tight and drama filled throughout until the big blast by Vallone. Ashland got on the board first in the top of the first off Evan Maize. Garett Robberts hit a RBI double down the left field line to score Austin Eifrid who was hit by a pitch to start the game. Maize managed to limit the damage and stranded two runners on base.

The Eagles threatened to add to their lead in the third inning as Robberts was hit by a pitch and Micah Allen doubled down the left field line to move Robberts to third. Carson Mittermaier was hit by another pitch to load the bases, but Maize induced a double play groundout to end the inning off the bat of Dillan Smith.

Davenport was held without a hit against Jacob Harsany through three-plus innings until Travis Harvey singled up the middle with two outs in the fourth. Carson Eby singled to left center and Harvey advanced to third. Kamrin Markwardt fouled out behind home plate to end the inning.

The Panthers finally got to Harsany in the sixth inning and took a 2-1 lead as Eby drove home Nolan Anspaugh and Christian Petre with a double just inside the bag down the third base line into left field. Ashland tied it up at 2 in the seventh as Maize threw to three hitters and two errors and a single loaded the bases. Cal Djuraskovic came in and got a strikeout of Alex Whipple. He then gave up a sacrifice fly to Robberts to tie it.

Both teams stranded two runners in the their next at-bats. Davenport in the bottom of the seventh and Ashland in the top of the eighth. The bottom of the eighth for DU started to gain momentum as Markwardt had a one-out single to center. Logan Hylek pinch ran for Markwardt at first and advanced to second on a single by Ben Mets. Nolan Bryant then had an epic at-bat and drew a walk to load the bases for Vallone's magic. Bewley entered the game with a 1.09 ERA and 11 saves and gave up just his second home run of the season.

Tim Zeller who started the game at second base and entered to pitch in the seventh took the loss for the Eagles (0-1). Djuraskovic got the win (3-1) finishing the final three innings and allowing one hit and no runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Mets finished 2-for-2 at the plate with two walks. Vallone got his season high with four RBI on the grand slam.