HAMMOND, Ind. - It was a very unpredictable doubleheader on Friday at Purdue Northwest as the Panthers lost game one 9-2 and then shook that off for a 16-3 win in game two. The Pride snapped a four-game losing streak to the Panthers in game one and also posted their largest margin of victory in the all-time series. DU still maintains a 20-3 advantage however as they quickly turned things around in game two and tied their season high in runs.

GAME ONE
The Pride wasted no time as they scored three runs in the first inning to put the Panthers on their heels. Tom Flisk had a RBI single to make it 1-0 followed by a sacrifice fly by Jax Kalemba and a RBI single by Jonathan Sabotnik. Flisk was not done as he had another RBI single in the second inning for a 4-0 lead. Ethan Imlach made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. That lead proved to be too much to overcome by Davenport.

They would score a run in the fourth inning as Carter Troncin had a RBI groundout to score Khale Showers with an unearned run. Ben Mets got into the action in the fifth inning with a RBI double to score Caleb Anspaugh. The Panthers also threatened in the sixth inning as Troncin doubled and Coltrane Rubner walked to put the tying run at the plate. The next three batters would be retired however to keep the Pride ahead 5-2.

Purdue Northwest would score four times in the sixth, all unearned, after a passed ball on a third strike would have been the third out of the inning. The Pride took advantage as a run was scored on that strike three passed ball to make it 6-2. After a walk to Tyler Nelson put runners on first and second, Flisk capped off a career day with a three-run homer to collect five RBI and put the game out of reach at 9-2.

Carson Fischer (3-6) went six innings and allowed nine hits and nine runs. However the final five runs allowed were unearned and he walked two and struck out a season-high seven batters. Conor Pangburn earned his first win of the season and started with five innings under his belt. He allowed just three hits and one earned run with two walks and five strikeouts. Davenport managed just five hits but four of those went for doubles.

GAME TWO
The Panthers came out angry and built a 13-0 lead after just two innings. They scored five in the first and eight more in the second and never looked back. That kind of run support allowed senior James Kohl to relax and make his pitches. He would end up tossing six innings of no-run ball on four hits with two walks and a season-high six strikeouts. Kohl has turned it around with three wins in his last four starts improving to 4-4 with a 5.80 season ERA.

Anthony Noble meanwhile could not survive the first inning and recorded just two outs before leaving the game. Noble allowed five runs (two earned) on one hit but did walk four batters. Joe Tor fared no better also recording just two outs while yielding eight runs on seven hits with two walks.

Nelson collected four of the nine Pride hits with a double and triple and two RBI. Gaetano Vallone had a double, sacrifice fly and stolen base while going 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Rubner got a rare start in the leadoff spot and responded with a 2-for-3 effort with two walks to reach base four times. He scored three runs and drove in two more. Carson Price got the start at catcher and batted ninth, but collected two hits in four at-bats with two runs scored and a RBI. 

The Panthers were helped out by the first-inning walks and also two costly errors as they scored their five runs on just one hit and left the bases loaded. The eight-run second inning included eight hits which are the most in an inning this season. Troncin, Miko Rodriguez, and Michael Tchavdarov also each finished with two RBI.

The two teams will play another doubleheader tomorrow at 2 PM ET.  Read Full Article