CALEDONIA, Mich. - Just when you thought that Friday's doubleheader couldn't get better, the Saturday matinee against Grand Valley State surpassed it. In one of the wildest endings ever, the Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth on one wild pitch for an 8-7 victory.
Dylan Pawenski was down to his final strike on a full count with the bases loaded and DU trailing 7-5. Ayden VanEnkevort then delivered one of the toughest luck pitches in a loss. His ball four to Pawenski got past catcher Nick Krstich to the backstop as a trio of pinch runners rounded the bases.
Cody Hultink scored on the walk and then with the runners going on the 3-2 pitch it was
Wyatt Epple scoring from second. Krstich could not find the ball initially and could not grab it firmly once he found it as
Travis Liford raced all the way home from first base for the walk-off win.
"I've never seen an ending quite like that," said head coach
Kevin Tidey. "We wanted to put as much speed on the basepaths, but I couldn't dream of winning in that way. Our guys have never felt out of a game all season and it was great to see us come through in such a big game."
Davenport took a 2-1 lead in the weekend series and have won both games by one run. The offense was clicking early as the Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
Sam Clay led off in the first with a single and
Coltrane Rubner doubled down the left field line for a 1-0 lead. Three more runs crossed the plate in the second inning as Clay had a RBI single and Rubner drove in two runs with a single to center field with two outs.
Grand Valley State responded with three runs in the top of the third. Ryan Dykstra had a RBI groundout to get the Lakers on the board. Jovan Gill had the big hit with a two-run double down the right field line. Davenport got their fifth run in the fifth inning as
Xander Reisbig launched his third home run of the season to right center for a 5-3 lead.
The Lakers cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the sixth as Krstich had a sacrifice fly. Dykstra tied the game at 5 in the top of the seventh as he had a sacrifice fly after Evan Morrison doubled to start the inning. GVSU took a 7-5 lead in the top of the eighth as Krstich had the clutch two-RBI single to right center. Rubner started the rally in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out bunt single down the third base line. The momentum-changing play happened next on a fielding error by third baseman Caleb Estrada off the bat of
Justin Johnson. Reisbig then had a chopper infield single to load the bases. All three runs on the final play were unearned.
James Geshel got the start for Davenport and went four innings.
Connor Apligian took over and threw 2.1 innings and allowed two runs with a strikeout.
Colton Blankstrom tossed 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits.
Aidan Arbaugh got one out in the ninth and then
Brayden Flanders got the win (1-0) as he recorded the last two outs in the ninth with a strikeout.
The teams will finish their weekend series tomorrow at noon.
