CALEDONIA, Mich. - It's not how you start, but how you finish. This would be the best way to describe Tuesday afternoon's regular-season home finale against Illinois-Springfield. The Panthers were far from perfect, but came through in the late innings for a come-from-behind 10-9 win over the Prairie Stars, out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The matchup was between two 30-win ball clubs who could see each other again in a couple of weeks. The Panthers made a few key errors early in the game, but kept battling back before scoring twice in the bottom of the 9th for their 34th win of the season.
It was the second time this season that DU trailed after eight innings and rallied to win on their home diamond. The first was back on March 29 in an 8-7 win over Grand Valley State when they scored three runs on a single wild pitch.
Garrett Swan was inserted as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and drove in two runs on a single and then he had his second walk-off hit of the season with a single to center with no outs in the bottom of the ninth.
DU found themselves down 9-8 entering the ninth inning and
Mason Hill walked two batters with one out. He then got a fly out by Ethan Bowers and Mark Kattula to end the threat. That gave Davenport a boost heading into the bottom half.
Justin Johnson led off with his ninth home run of the season to tie the game at 9-9.
Cody Hultink was hit by a pitch and
Dylan Pawenski laced a double down the left field line. Swan faced a new pitcher in Austin Loberger and ripped a single to center on the first pitch as Hultink scored the winning run. Davenport finished 13-3 at home during the regular season.
Noah Caceres hit a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the first and Mack Clark had a RBI double down the left field line for a quick 3-0 lead for UIS. All three runs were unearned in the inning. Johnson had a RBI single in the bottom of the first with two outs to score
Coltrane Rubner who doubled with one out.
UIS scored two more times in the top of the 2nd for a 5-1 lead and that ended the day for
Conor Gausselin on the mound for the Panthers. Another error led to runs and Ivan Dahlberg had a RBI single in the inning.
Aidan Arbaugh pitched three brilliant scoreless innings in the third, fourth, and fifth to keep DU in striking distance. Davenport cut the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the 5th.
Sam Clay had a RBI triple followed by Rubner being hit by a pitch.
Michael Tchavdarov had a RBI grounder to second and Johnson had a RBI grounder to shortstop to make it a one-run deficit.
Brayden Flanders gave up three runs in the top of the 6th, but again two errors proved costly. Clark walked and Johnny Wendling hit an infield single just feet away from home plate. Dillon Smail then hit a grounder to second, but the tag was missed as the ball came out of the glove of Clay to load the bases. The Prairie Stars had a RBI fielder's choice and then Flanders threw a pickoff attempt wild to allow the seventh run to score. Kattula with two outs had a RBI single for an 8-4 lead.
Davenport tied it up with four runs in the seventh off Seth Masters, who had a 0.98 ERA coming into the game. He gave up three runs (two earned) as Clay tripled for the second time and Rubner drove him home on a single through the left side. The bases were loaded later in the inning and Pawenski was hit by a pitch to make it 8-6. Swan then pinch hit for
Zach Hopman and tied the game with a single to left field.
Illinois-Springfield went ahead 9-8 in the top of the 8th as
Mason Hill gave up a single to Bowers and Kattula and then a sacrifice fly to Caceres. Hill got the win (3-0) going the final two innings and struck out two. Jack Tobin got the loss for UIS (4-2) as he allowed two earned runs over one inning. The Panthers struck out nine batters as Gausselin fanned three with no walks. He allowed just one earned run in two innings.
The top of the order was remarkable as Clay went 3-for-5 with two triples and two runs scored. Rubner finished 4-for-4 in the two-spot of the lineup with three runs scored. Johnson was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. The Panthers were hit by pitch five times in the game. The Panthers will wrap up the regular season needing just one win at Roosevelt to claim the outright GLIAC championship. The first crack at it will be Friday, May 2 beginning at 4:00 PM eastern time in Chicago, Ill.
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