GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -  It's hard to believe but there are only four more weekends of regular season baseball remaining as the Panthers fight towards keeping themselves in the hunt for a third straight GLIAC Championship. This week, DU and Grand Valley State are both tied for second at 8-5 in the conference. They are looking up at Wayne State who is a blistering 12-1.

Player Notes: 
Ben Mets

• The senior shortstop from Macomb has seen his batting average soar near the .400 mark and had a fantastic six-game series against Saginaw Valley State to put him at .397 heading into this weekend against the Pride.
• Batted .500 going 12-of-24 at the plate against the Cardinals. He scored seven times and collected a double and triple with five RBI. He reached base at .586 with five walks and did not strike out in those 24 at-bats. He also stole two bases in three chances and made just one error in 26 tries (.962). 
• Mets currently ranks first in the GLIAC in hits (48) and batting average. He is also second in triples (4) and fielding assists (76). 

Miko Rodriguez

• The redshirt junior from Ada had his signature moment of the season in the last contest back on April 8. He hit his second home run of the season which was a walk-off, two-run blast to left field to give DU a 9-7 win over the Cardinals. It is the first walk-off homer for the Panthers since May 13, 2018 when current St. Louis Cardinal minor leaguer Jacob Buchberger hit a walk-off grand slam to beat Ashland 8-4 in the GLIAC Tournament in Detroit.
• Rodriguez is currently hitting .333 (11-of-33) in GLIAC games with four runs scored and seven RBI.
• Miko batted .389 going 7-of-18 at the dish in the SVSU series with six RBI. 

Spencer Vainavicz

• The senior southpaw from Grand Rapids reached a career milestone during the SVSU series with his 150th strikeout. He threw three innings back on April 8 in the series finale and allowed no runs on just one hit with three punchouts. 
• Vainavicz is currently fifth all-time at DU with 151 strikeouts and needs six more to tie Tucker Gernhard (2009-11) for fourth place.
• Spencer has allowed just two runs over his last six appearances in 8.1 innings which is a 2.16 ERA with 13 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .188. 

Scouting the Opponent:
Purdue Northwest (7-21, 3-11 GLIAC)
Series Record: Davenport leads 19-2 (won last four meetings)
Last Meeting: 3/31/23 - DU swept a doubleheader against the Pride winning 5-1 and 3-2 in Caledonia.
GAME ONE
Carson Fischer for the Panthers and Sam Shively for the Pride battled back-and-forth throughout the game and both went the distance on the mound. The Pride got to Fischer first as Luke Montgomery beat out an infield single with two outs on a close play at first and Jayden Smith scored for the 1-0 lead.

Davenport would then score the final five runs of the game for the 5-1 win. The Panthers broke through in the third inning as Gaetano Vallone laced a RBI triple down the right field line. He slid safely into third and the throw got away, which allowed him to score for a 2-1 lead.

Coltrane Rubner came through with a two-out, RBI single to center field in the fourth inning as Carter Troncin scored from second after he doubled to start the inning. Davenport was clinging to their two-run lead in the sixth inning when they got two insurance runs on Tyler Mosher's third home run of the season to left center.

Davenport managed six hits but five of those were for extra bases including three doubles, a triple, and a home run. Rubner had two hits in three at-bats including one of those doubles. Fischer improved to 3-4 on the mound this season and finished with five strikeouts.

GAME TWO
The nightcap was high intensity as neither team led by more than one run during the nine-inning affair. Once again, it was starting pitching that led the way. Isaac Van Dyke for the Panthers and Conor Pangburn for the Pride had solid outings. Both lasted into the sixth inning and the Panthers were able to pull out a 3-2 win.

Mosher drove in the first run in the second inning with an opposite field double to left center to score Logan Hylek. Van Dyke was cruising through four innings but ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. The Pride took a 2-1 lead as Owen Winters had a RBI double and Montgomery delivered a RBI single. 

Davenport quickly regained the lead in the bottom half of the fifth. Ben Mets singled with two outs and then Khale Showers had the clutch hit with a two-run home run to left, which was his fourth long ball of the season. Van Dyke was back out for the sixth inning but loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. He was lifted for Alex Lord and he came through to end the inning as Winters grounded into a fielder's choice.

Sam Carlisle came on to pitch for Purdue Northwest with one on and one out in the bottom of the sixth. He had a great outing in 2.2 innings and allowed no runs with no walks and two strikeouts. Meanwhile, DU was leaning on their bullpen as well and Spencer Vainavicz and Logan Bursick-Harrington did their job to preserve the victory.

Vainavicz had a 1-2-3 seventh inning but allowed a single and walk to start the eighth. He buckled down to get a pop-up on a sacrifice bunt attempt for the first out and struck out the next two batters in end the threat. DU had a pair of singles in the eighth but could not increased their lead like they did in game one. Bursick-Harrington was overpowering the Pride bats as he struck out the side mixed in with a two-out walk to earn his second save of the season.

Van Dyke improved to 2-1 on the season as the Panthers struck out 10 batters. Pangburn took the loss falling to 0-3. Mets and Troncin each had two hits for Davenport.

About the Pride:
The Pride split a doubleheader back on Tuesday, April 11 at home in GLIAC action against Parkside. Purdue Northwest took game one 15-6 and the Rangers took game two 16-11. In the first game which was a seven-inning affair, the Pride smacked 14 hits including Jayden Smith's two-homer outing. Smith went 2-for-4 with both solo home runs coming in consecutive at-bats in the fifth and sixth innings. Beldon Glasgow also left the yard with a solo shot in the fifth and went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the eighth spot of the lineup. Tyler Nelson also drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and scored twice. Noah Burgh went the distance to pick up his first win of the season. Burgh allowed seven hits and five earned runs with three walks and seven strikeouts.

In game two, which was a nine-inning game, the teams were tied at 11 before the Rangers scored five runs in the top of the ninth. Ray Hilbrich collected three hits and two RBI in the leadoff spot. Hayden Matulich and Jax Kalemba each hit a home run with Kalemba's three-run homer in the eighth to tie the game at 11. The Pride had five doubles, one triple, and two bombs in game two.

Live Coverage: 
Friday, April 14 at Purdue Northwest (2 PM ET Doubleheader) - Live Video (JED TV) - Live Stats
Saturday, April 15 at Purdue Northwest (2 PM ET Doubleheader) - Live Video (JED TV) - Live Stats