GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The landscape in the Midwest Region shifted last weekend as Davenport dropped all four games against Lewis. The Flyers, who are leading the GLVC standings, rose from fifth to a tie for first in the region in the NCBWA poll with Grand Valley State and Davenport moved from first to third. The Panthers will look to get back to their winning ways as they are back in conference play against Parkside for four games at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. The Rangers enter the top 10 in the regional rankings this week in the eighth spot.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Davenport scored a total of 11 runs in the four-game series against Lewis. That was a vast contrast from the Grand Valley State series when the Panthers scored 24 runs in those four contests. The Panthers saw their national ranking fall from No. 9 to No. 25 in the NCBWA poll this week. Davenport is No. 23 in the ABCA coaches poll this week down from No. 11 before the Lewis series.

Lewis took game one of the series in 10 innings by a score of 4-2 last Friday in Caledonia. George Bilecki went 3-for-5 at the plate for the Flyers and had a RBI single in the 10th inning to give Lewis a 4-2 lead. Sam Clay went 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot for Davenport with a double. Logan Todd had the team's lone RBI with a single in the fifth inning. Cody Hultink scored both runs for DU and stole two bases.

Davenport managed just three hits in the eight-inning affair in game two. Adam Berghorst had a quality start by going 7.2 innings and allowing just one earned run with a walk and four strikeouts. Hultink stole two more bases and had a single and walk. Darren Kraft and Chase Kemp had the other hits for the Panthers.

Lewis scored three runs in the third and five more in the fourth inning en route to the 8-2 win in the seven-inning, game one on Sunday in Romeoville, Illinois. Bilecki had a three-run homer in the third to give his team a 3-1 lead. He then homered again in the fourth which brought home three runs to finish with six RBI. Chris McDevitt drove in the other two runs going 2-for-4 at the dish. Brendan Lawry improved to 6-0 on the mound going six innings and allowing two earned runs with four strikeouts. Clay went 2-for-4 in the game in the leadoff spot. Logan Todd drove in a run on a single in the second inning and Dylan Pawenski drove in a run with a single in the sixth inning.

Davenport built a 3-1 lead in game two on Sunday through three innings. They increased their lead to 6-2 in the sixth inning after a Clay two-run home run. The Flyers got two runs back in the sixth and then scored six times in the seventh for the 10-6 win. Kraft had a RBI single in the first inning. Garrett Swan blasted a solo shot in the third inning to give DU a 3-1 lead. McDevitt had a RBI single in the sixth inning followed by Jackson Hunley with an infield RBI single in the seventh. Tyler Phommachanhom had a two-run, go-ahead single in the seventh for a 7-6 lead. Swan collected two hits. Clay continued his good series going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Hultink doubled and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two more stolen bases. He is currently 16-for-18 on the basepaths this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Davenport currently leads the all-time series against Parkside by a 22-3 margin. It first started in 2019 and DU won the first 13 straight meetings until Parkside won 7-6 on Mar. 27, 2023 in Caledonia. The Panthers won four of six games last season and scored in double figures in each of those four wins. On Mar. 20, 2024, DU scored 39 runs in a doubleheader against the Rangers in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Michael Tchavdarov hit in the leadoff spot in game two and went 4-for-6 with four runs scored and a RBI. Coltrane Rubner drove in three runs and scored twice. DU had a total of four sacrifice flies in the game. Tchavdarov also was able to drive in three runs in game one and scored a pair of runs. Rubner collected five RBI including a double while going 3-for-5 at the plate.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Parkside is having their best season since 2005 (45-18) with a current record of 23-8 overall and 8-4 in the GLIAC. The Rangers won 21 games a season ago and this marks the first time since 2005 and 2006 that the team has had back-to-back, 20-win seasons. They are getting the job done on the road this season with an impressive 11-1 record and if you include a 4-0 neutral record, they are 15-1 away from Kenosha. Parkside has won seven of their last eight games after a four-game sweep over Roosevelt two weeks ago and last weekend's 3-1 record against Purdue Northwest.

Owen Brock and Peter Fusek form a great 1-2 punch in the lineup for Parkside. Brock is batting .481 with 37 hits in 77 at-bats and is second nationally in batting average. He has scored 24 runs and driven in 25 runs with a .649 slugging percentage and .547 on-base percentage. Fusek is batting .460 with 52 hits in 113 at-bats and ranks sixth in Division II in batting average. He is also first in the GLIAC in hits, runs (43), and stolen bases (26), while ranking third in on-base percentage (.523). Parkside leads the GLIAC with a .343 team batting average and that number also ranks ninth in Division II.

Sam Mommer leads the team with a 3.99 ERA and a 5-1 record. He has made seven starts and thrown two complete games in 38.1 innings. He has displayed great command of his pitches with only five walks and 40 strikeouts. Noah Gerritson checks in with a 4.02 ERA and 3-2 record in 31.1 innings. He has struck out 33 and walked just seven batters. Fusek has also been called on to pitch with two saves in 11.1 innings and is 2-0 with a 6.35 ERA.

LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, Apr. 11 vs. Parkside – 3:00 PM – Live Video (FloCollege) – Live Stats
Saturday, Apr. 12 vs. Parkside (DH) – 1:00 PM – Live Video (FloCollege) – Live Stats
Sunday, Apr. 13 vs. Parkside – 12:00 PM – Live Video (FloCollege) – Live Stats

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