Baseball | 5/10/2023 1:36:00 PM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport baseball team will need to dust themselves off after falling short this past weekend in their quest for a third straight GLIAC regular season championship. Wayne State showed why they are one of the top teams in the country winning 5-of-6 in the season series including 3-of-4 last weekend in Detroit. Davenport is given a second life though as the winner of the upcoming GLIAC Tournament will get an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals. DU is hoping to advance to that stage for the third straight season. If you believe in superstition, the last time DU played at Jackson Field in Lansing for the GLIAC Tournament, they won the whole thing going 4-0 in the process in 2021 for their first tournament crown.

LAST TIME OUT VERSUS PNW
The Panthers were able to win 5-of-6 in the season series against the Pride who they will play at 11 AM on Thursday in the first game of the GLIAC Tournament. They ended the series with three straight wins and scored in double digits in all of those games in Hammond, Ind. The last two games were part of a doubleheader on April 15 with wins of 11-2 and 15-4.

Ben Mets drove in four runs going 3-for-5 in game one with a double and home run. Coltrane Rubner from the leadoff spot went 1-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored, and three RBI. Gaetano Vallone went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, two walks, and two RBI. Tyler Mosher also homered in game one with two RBI. Isaac Van Dyke got the win to improve to 4-1 in four innings of work with one walk and four strikeouts. Cade Kontny got the three-inning save allowing five hits with one earned run to go with no walks and four strikeouts.

Tyler McKinstry got the start in game two and lasted four innings. He did not get the win because he didn't throw a five-inning minimum in a nine-inning game, but had two earned runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. Spencer Vainavicz would come in after McKinstry and toss two innings to get the win and improve to 2-2. He allowed no hits with two walks and six strikeouts. DU fanned 15 Pride batters in game two. Michael Tchavdarov tied a single-game school record going 5-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. Vallone blasted a pair of home runs as well as a double for a 4-for-5 showing at the plate. He scored three times and drove in four runs.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES

• The Panthers went 4-5 in neutral site games this season, but haven't played one since March 4 on the last day of their spring trip against Minnesota State Mankato. Carter Troncin led the team with a .406 batting average in those nine games including seven runs, three doubles, four home runs, and 11 RBI. Ben Mets hit .378 with nine runs scored, three doubles, one triple, one home run, and five RBI. The pitching staff posted a 6.21 ERA in 71 innings with 42 walks and 82 strikeouts.
• Sophomore outfielder Coltrane Rubner has been dynamic in the leadoff spot and changed the Davenport offense for the better. He went on a tear in the conference-only games this season helping DU to a 20-10 mark. He batted .404 in 28 games played and scored 38 runs to go with five doubles, four triples, three home runs, and 20 RBI. He also was able to draw 23 walks and go 8-for-8 in stolen bases.
• Senior reliever Spencer Vainavicz has sported the team's best earned-run average this season in GLIAC games at 2.29. He has a 3-0 record in 14 appearances with one save. He also has 19.2 innings pitched with 10 walks and 31 strikeouts.

WSU SERIES WRAPUP
Davenport batted .274 as a team against the Warriors in six games this season. They scored 29 runs in those six games with 17 doubles, six home runs, and 28 RBI. The Wayne State pitching staff did a great job at neutralizing the Panther offense. One telling stat is that the Warriors walked seven and struck out 47 in those six games. The Panther defense was also something they would like to clean up as they committed 11 errors for a .948 fielding percentage in the series. Caleb Anspaugh batted 6-for-16 in the series with a home run and five RBI. Carter Troncin batted .333 going 6-for-18 with four runs, one home run, and four RBI. 

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
These two teams met three times in last year's GLIAC Tournament hosted in Indiana. Davenport is trying to avoid last year's path which saw them lose 10-8 in the first game against Purdue Northwest. To their credit, the Panthers then buckled down and went on a five-game run to capture their second straight tournament title. The Pride also found themselves in the championship series needing just one win for their first tournament championship. The two games played in Gary, Ind. saw the Panthers win 6-4 to force the if-necessary game and then DU took home a 2-1 nail-biter in the final game.

Despite dropping 5-of-6 in the season series, Tom Flisk played like gang-busters batting .471 with eight hits in 17 at-bats for the Pride. He scored four runs and also had a double, two home runs, and eight RBI. He had eight of the team's 20 RBI in the series. Ray Hilbrich batted .400 with six hits in 15 at-bats. He scored twice and had a double, two home runs, and two RBI. The Pride pitching will need to improve to have a shot on Thursday. They had a 9.40 team ERA in 45 innings of the series and surrended 17 doubles, four triples, and nine home runs to the Panthers.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (Double Elimination)

Jackson Field (Lansing, Mich.)
Day 1 -- Thursday, May 11

Game	Time	Matchup
Game 2	11 a.m.	#2 Davenport vs. #5 Purdue Northwest	Watch | Live Stats
Game 1	3 p.m.	#1 Wayne State vs. #6 Parkside
Game 3	7 p.m.	#3 Saginaw Valley State vs. #4 Grand Valley State

Day 2 -- Friday, May 12

Game	Time	Matchup
Game 4	11 a.m.	Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5	3 p.m.	Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6	7 p.m.	Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3

Day 3 -- Saturday, May 13

Game 7	11 a.m.	TBD
Game 8	3 p.m.	TBD
Game 9	7 p.m.	TBD

Day 4 -- Sunday, May 14

Game 10	11 a.m.	TBD
Game 11	TBA	If necessary