GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport baseball team (3-13) will be traveling to No. 17 Ashland (10-1) this weekend for a three-game series against the Eagles out of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Eagles are entering the top 25 of the NCBWA Division II Poll for the first time this season and are also ranked second in the Midwest Region. The series will be single games on Friday (3 PM), Saturday (1 PM), and Sunday (1 PM).

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN SERIES
The Sharks were able to take all four games in the series down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The doubleheader on Friday saw Nova Southeastern win a pair of one-run games by scores of 6-5 and 3-2. The Saturday doubleheader was not as competitive with the Sharks winning 11-4 and 16-4. The Panthers will be looking to end a six-game skid at Ashland beginning on Friday.
The Panthers batted .240 going 29-of-121 at the dish in the series. Logan Todd went 4-of-9 (.444) and scored three runs. Anthony Aloisio batted .429 (6-of-14) with two RBI and one run scored. Josh Robinson hit .385 (5-of-13) with two doubles and two runs scored. Coltrane Rubner led the team with five RBI and drew four walks in the series. Jerad Berkenpas had another quality start in a no-decision going seven innings and allowing one earned run with no walks and four strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY
Davenport leads the all-time series 9-8 against Ashland. A majority of those games occurred when the Eagles were a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. DU has won the last three matchups. DU won 10-4 on April 11, 2021 in the final GLIAC regular season game between the schools. They then eliminated the Eagles 6-2 in the GLIAC Tournament on May 22, 2021 in Ashland's final game in the conference before moving to the GMAC. Gaetano Vallone hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Panthers to victory. The last time out was the highest scoring game in the series with the Panthers winning 15-11 back on March 3, 2023 in Davenport, Florida. Davenport finished with 21 hits and Cade Kontny got the win in relief going 3.1 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Vallone went 4-for-6 with two runs scored. Michael Tchavdarov went 3-of-6 with a team-high four RBI.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Ashland is riding a seven-game win streak into this weekend's action. The only blemish so far this season was a 12-8 loss to Minnesota State-Mankato on March 1. The last game for the Eagles was a 5-3 win in 11 innings against Grand Valley State on March 9 in Winter Park, Florida. Gavin Dobbels went 3-for-6 with a run scored. Jeremiah Cangelosi went 4-for-6 with two runs scored. Collin Overholt had the only extra-base hit out of 14 hits with a double and walked twice. Marshall Leishman was the fourth pitcher of the game for Ashland and tossed 5.2 relief innings to get the win. He allowed five hits and no runs with two walks and three punchouts.
Cangelosi is currently leading the team with a .432 batting average (16-for-37) and has driven in six runs and scored 11 times. Ben Peltz leads the Eagles with 15 RBI and is batting .394 with four home runs and three doubles. Cam Scott has been brilliant in his three starts going 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA. He has tossed 15.2 innings and struck out 17 batters. Leishman leads the team with 21 strikeouts in 15.1 innings. He is 2-0 on the season with a 4.11 ERA.

LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, March 15 at Ashland (3:00 PM) - Live Video - Live Stats
Saturday, March 16 at Ashland (1:00 PM) - Live Video - Live Stats
Sunday, March 17 at Ashland (1:00 PM) - Live Video - Live Stats