ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Davenport baseball scored in each of the first three innings and that was more than enough in a 9-1 win at Eckerd on Wednesday. The first game of the team's Florida swing got off to a great start. The Panthers scored three runs in the first and second innings and did not allow the Tritons to score until the ninth inning improving to 6-1 overall. Eckerd dropped their 12th straight game and are now 2-12 overall.
Zach Hopman and
Dylan Pawenski set the tone in the first inning as each guy had a RBI double. The third run scored on a steal of second base by
Justin Johnson and a bobble that allowed Pawenski to score from third. In the second inning, three more runs extended the lead to 6-0.
Cody Hultink started it off with a sacrifice fly to center.
Michael Tchavdarov followed with a two-RBI single to right as Hopman and
Logan Todd scored on the play.
In the third inning,
Chase Kemp had a RBI single to score Johnson. Fast forward to the sixth inning and
Sam Clay drove in a pair of runs on a single to right as
Connor Laskey and Pawenski scored for the 9-0 advantage. The Tritons ended the shutout in the ninth on a RBI single by Christian Perez. Johnson ended the game 2-for-2 at the plate with two walks. Hultink and Johnson led the team with two hits apiece.
Conor Gausselin got the start for Davenport and went 1.2 innings allowing no hits with a walk and three strikeouts. He handed the ball to
Brandon Skorupski who got credit for the win. He lasted 3.2 innings and allowed no runs on two hits with a strikeout.
Jack Sielatycki saw his first action as a Panther after transferring from Purdue Northwest and went 1.2 innings with no hits allowed and he retired all four batters he faced.
Colton Blankstrom tossed one inning in the eighth and struck out one with two groundouts.
Brayden Flanders threw in the ninth and allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout.
The trip continues on Friday, Feb. 28 as DU will play Minnesota Crookston at the University of Tampa beginning at 1 PM. It is the first meeting between the schools.Â
