CALEDONIA, Mich. - In a doubleheader being made up from March 27, Parkside snapped Davenport's eight-game winning streak in game one, 10-8, before the Panthers rebounded in the nightcap for a 5-2 victory to salvage the split. Next up, third-seeded Davenport will open play in the GLIAC Tournament on Friday against sixth-seeded Ferris State.
Davenport wrapped up the 2022 regular season with an overall record of 25-21 and a GLIAC mark of 17-11. On the other side, Parkside (8-40, 4-22 GLIAC) will enter the league tournament as the eight seed and face top-seeded/No. 21-ranked Grand Valley State.
In game one, Davenport trailed Parkside by as many as four runs, 6-2, through two and a half innings before putting up a four spot in the bottom of the third to tie knot it up at 6-6. Then, thanks to a run in the fourth and another in the sixth, the Panthers enjoyed a two-run lead, 8-6.
With one out in the top of the seventh,
Ellie Muilenburg had come out of the bullpen and pushed her streak of innings pitched without giving up an earned run to 22 and two thirds. Over the course of the next four batters, the Rangers proceeded to score four runs on four hits including an RBI double and three-run home run that first bounced off the top of the wall in dead center field. In the home half of the seventh, the Panthers stranded a pair of baserunners before dropping game one.
Emma Miller lasted just an inning and two thirds before Muilenburg (12-11) handled the final five and a third frames with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
In the nightcap, Davenport struck first with two outs in the bottom of the third when
Alexis Koza hit a solo blast to center for the Panthers' first hit of the game. After Parkside tied it up at 1-1 in the top of the fourth, DU took the lead right back in the bottom of that inning when
Monica Meger hit a two-run double to left that scored both
Lindsay Goodman and
Brooke Bernt.
The next inning, the home team made it 5-1 when Miller doubled to center forcing in both
Alexis Cardona and
Riley Hasseld. The visitors cut the deficit to three, 5-2, in the sixth, but that would be it for the scoring.
Miller got the start in game two as well and turned in a much better performance. The left-hander threw six innings and gave up two earned runs on 10 hits with only one walk and three strikeouts. In relief, Muilenburg picked up the third save of her career and first of the spring with a perfect seventh and two punchouts.
Story by:
Cooper Weidenthaler
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