HAMMOND, Ind. – The Davenport baseball team began conference play with four straight wins over Purdue Northwest, including a doubleheader sweep on Saturday by scores of 5-3 and 9-5. The twinbill was much closer than yesterday's results, but in the end it was clutch bullpen innings that sealed the victories for the Panthers. Davenport has their longest win streak of the season at six and improved to 18-5 overall (4-0 GLIAC).
Davenport took an early lead in game one compliments of an error that scored two runs in the third inning.
Xander Reisbig reached on the miscue and it scored
Dylan Pawenski and
Coltrane Rubner.
Zach Hopman increased the lead to 3-0 in the fourth on a RBI groundout as
Chase Kemp scored. The Pride cut the deficit to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. DU increased their lead to 4-2 in the sixth inning as
Michael Tchavdarov was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. After another run from the Pride in the sixth,
Logan Todd gave DU an insurance run in the seventh with a RBI single that allowed
Sam Clay to score.
Tchavdarov went 2-for-3 in game one. Todd finished 3-for-3 batting in the ninth spot of the order. Clay also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Adam Berghorst got the win as the starter going six innings. He allowed four hits and three earned runs with one walk and two strikeouts.
Conor Gausselin earned his second save of the season throwing in the seventh and did allow two hits with two strikeouts.
The second game was another tight contest and it was looking good for the Pride as they opened up a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
Austin VanderMarkt finished out the first, but was relieved by
Brandon Skorupski who was phenomenal in five innings out of the bullpen. He would eventually get the win and keep his team in the game. The Pride would be held scoreless over the final eight innings.
DU chipped away at the lead as Hopman scored on a passed ball in the third. Reisbig in the fourth inning had a RBI groundout. Todd had a good at-bat in the seventh and reached on an error to second base which allowed two big runs to score and make it 5-4. Rubner had the big hit in the seventh as he singled to left to score the go-ahead runs in Hopman and Todd for a 6-5 advantage.
Colton Blankstrom took over for Skorupski and went the final three innings for his first save of the season. He allowed just one hit with no walks and two punchouts. The Panthers added three insurance runs in the ninth as
Justin Johnson had a RBI double and Reisbig had a two-RBI single up the middle with two outs. DU had four doubles at the plate as Pawenski, Reisbig, and Kemp also had a double. Hopman had a triple going 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the leadoff spot. Reisbig drove in three runs and also drew a walk while going 2-for-4 at the dish.
The Panthers will now set their sights on a huge GLIAC matchup next weekend as they host No. 14 Grand Valley State (19-5, 3-1 GLIAC) who split a doubleheader today at Parkside. The series is scheduled to start on Friday, Mar. 28 at 3:00 PM at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex in Caledonia.
