GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The fourth four-game series of the season is on the horizon for the Davenport baseball team as they make the long trip down to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to tangle with Nova Southeastern out of the Sunshine State Conference. The Sharks enter the week with an 8-9 overall record including a 3-3 mark in the SSC. They have already played 13 home games in 2024 with a record of 6-7. By contrast, the Panthers will play their first 24 games of the season on the road before their home opener against Saginaw Valley State on Friday, March 29. Both teams have dropped their last two games with Davenport falling at Quincy in game two on Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's game in Quincy, Ill. Nova Southeastern dropped their final two games in a three-game series against Rollins on Mar. 2 and 3.

QUINCY SERIES
The Hawks came into the four-game series with an 0-7 record after advancing to the NCAA Midwest Super Regional in 2023. Quincy propelled themselves into a better spot being early in the season still by winning three of four games against the Panthers who are now 3-9 overall. Quincy took Friday's game by a score of 5-1. Davenport evened the series on Saturday in game one with a 6-3 victory. The Hawks took the final two contests with a 5-4 game two win on Saturday and a 17-7 win on Sunday to wrap up the series.

Griffin Kirn was masterful in Friday's game for Quincy on the hill. He went 6.1 innings and allowed five hits and no runs. Kirn walked two and struck out 11 Panthers in 103 pitches. Logan Mueller gave up the one Panther run in the eighth inning as he hit Jared Evans with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run. Austin Simpson belted two home runs, both coming as solo shots, in the third and seventh innings. Simpson scored three of Quincy's five runs and also drew a walk. Josh Robinson coming off his GLIAC Player of the Week award went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and one run scored. Carson Fischer was saddled with the loss (0-2) going seven innings and allowing nine hits and five earned runs. He walked two and struck out eight Hawks in 109 pitches.

Davenport built a 6-0 lead in game one on Saturday and held on for their third win of the season. Anthony Aloisio had a two-run homer in the first inning as DU put three runs on the board. Coltrane Rubner had a RBI single in the second inning to give DU a 4-0 lead. Sam Clay drove in two runs on a single to left field in the third inning. Jared Berkenpas improved to 2-1 on the mound by keeping the Hawks off-balance at the plate. He went six innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs. He walked one and struck out six in 72 pitches. Tyler Kapa allowed a run in one inning of relief and struck out three. Kade Ruffner (0-3) got ruffed up in two innings giving up seven hits and six earned runs for Quincy. Aloisio went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Rubner went 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot.

Saturday's game two was scheduled for seven innings but went into the eighth with the score knotted up at 3-3. Davenport scored once in the top of the eighth as Clay had a two-out RBI single which scored pinch runner Dominick Cowdrey. DU had two runners on base threatening for more runs when Kyle Manship came out of the bullpen and struck out Michael Tchavdarov to keep it a one-run deficit. That play was crucial as the Hawks scored twice in the bottom of the eighth for the win. Austin VandenBrink gave up three straight singles including a run-scoring single by JD Ortiz to tie the game. After pinch runner Jake Vitale stole third base, Kapa relieved VandenBrink and walked Cole Erickson on seven pitches. The game ended when Kapa balked home Vitale with the winning run. Quincy had 12 hits in game two including three doubles. Davenport had seven hits, but none for extra bases. Rubner went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Clay also went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.

Quincy scored in all seven at-bats in Sunday's game which was scheduled for nine innings but was halted by the 10-run rule in the seventh inning. Manship got his second win of the series with two relief innings. Isaac Van Dyke took the loss for his first decision of the season (0-1). He yielded seven earned runs in 2.1 innings with one walk and one strikeout. Davenport got home runs from Clay, Aloisio, and Tchavdarov. Quincy hit four home runs coming from David Broughton, Brock Boynton, Dustin Dupont, and Joe Huffman. Boynton and Harry Fandre both drove in three runs to lead the Hawks. Tchavdarov drove in three runs on his homer in the fourth inning. Davenport trailed 7-6 heading into the bottom of the fourth but the Hawks scored 10 of the final 11 runs in the contest.

Clay batted .400 in the series going 6-for-15 with two runs scored and five RBI. Robinson batted .400 as well going 4-for-10 with three walks and three hit by pitch. Aloisio batted .385 going 5-for-13 at the dish with a pair of home runs and four RBI. The Panthers hit .246 as a squad compared to .349 for the Hawks. DU also had a 9.53 team ERA compared to 5.23 for Quincy. Robinson currently leads the team with a .475 batting average (19-for-40) this season in 12 games. He is slugging .800 with a .580 on-base percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Nova Southeastern leads the all-time series by a margin of 5-1. The teams met three times each during the 2022 and 2023 seasons all in Fort Lauderdale. The Sharks won two of three last year as Davenport won 3-1 on March 16 and then Nova Southeastern took a 14-2 win on March 17 and a 6-4 win on March 18. Fischer had a strong start in the 3-1 victory going seven innings and allowing five hits and one earned run. He walked no one and struck out six Sharks. Ben Mets went 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and RBI for the Panthers.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Nova Southeastern compiled a 26-23 record in 2023 and were 15-15 in the rugged Sunshine State Conference. The Sharks have had an up-and-down 2024 season so far not having more than a two-game winning or losing streak for an 8-9 overall record under head coach Adrian Morales in his first season. Last time out for the Sharks was a three-game set at home against Rollins College. The Sharks won 6-3 on Friday, March 1 but then fell 6-5 on Saturday, March 2 and 4-0 in a shortened, six-inning affair on Sunday, March 3.

Justin Wachs is on a tear batting .439 this season going 25-for-57 with 20 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, two home runs, and 15 RBI. Bryan Loriga is hitting .386 going 22-for-57 at the plate with eight runs scored, six doubles, two home runs, and 11 RBI. The Sharks are hitting .278 as a team and averaging seven runs per game. The team ERA sits at a respectable 4.71 in 149 innings. The opposition is hitting .252 against them. Kader Rabagh is 1-1 on the mound with a 3.57 ERA in 17.2 innings and has 17 strikeouts. Collin Rothermel leads the team with 33 strikeouts in 25 innings and posts a 4.68 ERA and 4-1 record.

LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday, March 7 at Nova Southeastern (6:00 PM) - Live Video - Live Stats
Friday, March 8 at Nova Southeastern (6:00 PM) - Live Video - Live Stats
Saturday, March 9 at Nova Southeastern (1:00 PM Doubleheader) - Game 1 Live Video - Game 1 Live Stats - Game 2 Live Video - Game 2 Live Stats