CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Friday doubleheader between Davenport and Grand Valley State was delayed by 90 minutes due to lightning, but it was worth the wait as two of the top teams in the region and country battled to a split in tightly contested action. Grand Valley State executed the little things better in a 4-2 game one victory and Davenport found their offense with a 7-6 win in game two.

In the opener, it was a pitching battle between Keegan Batka for DU and Jayden Dentler for the Lakers. Both hurlers came into the contest with 5-0 records. The first three innings showed that runs were going to be hard to come by. The Lakers would break through in the fourth with a pair of runs. Evan Morrison gave DU fits at the top of the order and led off with a single. Ryan Dykstra followed with a single that was placed perfectly between the mound and first base. After two flyouts, Brendan Guciardo, the team's batting average leader (.369), punched a single to right field to drive in Morrison. During the play, a throw home got away from catcher Dylan Pawenski, which allowed Dykstra also to score.

Michael Tchavdarov helped get the Panthers on the board in the fourth. He led off with a triple to the right field corner and Justin Johnson followed with a RBI double down the left field line. Davenport tied the game in the fifth as Sam Clay led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Zach Hopman. The Lakers took the lead for good with two runs in the sixth. Morrison walked and Dykstra tripled to the wall in right center for a 3-2 lead. Dykstra then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jovan Gill. 

Both starters went the distance of seven innings. Dentler improved to 6-0 and allowed two earned runs on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Batka took his first loss of the season at 5-1. He allowed three earned runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Clay was the only Panthers to have two hits in game one.

Davenport trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth in game two and then scored five times to take the lead for good. Johnson got DU off to a good start with a solo homer in the first inning. Ryan Stimac gave GVSU a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a two-run scoring single up the middle.

Another top-notch pitching matchup took place in game two as GVSU's Owen Avery and DU's Adam Berghorst squared off. Avery was humming along and struck out five straight batters in the third and fourth innings. Berghorst escaped trouble in the fifth as he stranded two Lakers on base. Avery was then removed in the fifth as he allowed five runs and five hits in the inning before Colby Phipps replaced him. Pawenski walked and Xander Reisbig tripled off the batter's eye in center field to tie the game at 2. Clay then doubled him home for the 3-2 lead. Logan Todd had a RBI single through the left side followed by Tchavdarov with a sacrifice fly and Johnson with a RBI single off the diving glove at shortstop.

Grand Valley State answered right back with three runs to chase Berghorst in the sixth. Brandon Skorupski saved the day and got a big hold in relief. He kept the game a one-run lead for Davenport by retiring the final three batters of the inning. He then retired the Lakers in order in the seventh and eighth innings. Reisbig would provide a big insurance run with a solo homer to lead off the sixth inning.

Skorupski ran into trouble in the ninth inning as Dykstra homered to right center to cut the deficit to 7-6. Gulbrandsen would double with two outs and DU went to Conor Gausselin to get the final out. He faced Guciardo and a wild pitch moved the tying run to third. He buckled down and struck out Guciardo swinging out of the zone to secure his team-leading third save of the season.

Reisbig finished 2-for-4 with a triple, home run, and two RBI. Johnson also went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Berghorst got the win in five-plus innings moving to 4-1. Skorupski went 3.2 innings and allowed just two hits and one run with no walks and three strikeouts.

These two teams are scheduled to play a single game tomorrow at 1 PM in game three of the four-game weekend series. DU is still one game ahead in the GLIAC standings at 5-1, while the Lakers are 4-2. Read Full Article