Baseball | 4/3/2025 12:46:00 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport baseball team will see another top-notch opponent this weekend as they have a home-and-home doubleheader out of conference against Lewis. The Panthers have seen their stock rise due to three, one-run wins last weekend at home against Grand Valley State. The Panthers are currently 21-6 overall and leading the GLIAC at 7-1. Some interesting data points entering this week come courtesy of Boyd's World College Baseball Ratings and Analysis. Davenport is ranked second in Division II in Iterative Strength Ratings with a rating of 126.3. They trail only Tampa (26-6), who defeated DU in two games earlier this season on March 1. The Panthers also have the second toughest strength of schedule in Division II based on past opponents in the NCAA report.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Davenport had lost six straight to Grand Valley State after game one's 4-2 loss on Friday, but managed to win the final three games of the series. The last two wins came in DU's final at-bat. On Saturday, the Panthers trailed 7-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth and scored three times to prevail 8-7. The ending was one seldom seen as with the bases loaded and two outs,
Dylan Pawenski walked to score a run and on ball four the wild pitch went to the backstop and allowed the runners from first and second to score in dramatic fashion. On Sunday, the Lakers led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Davenport once again scored three times with
Xander Reisbig coming through on a 0-2 pitch with two outs to hit a two-RBI single through the left side.
Mason Hill, who entered in the eighth inning, got the final three outs in the top of the ninth for the win. Hill was also named GLIAC Pitcher of the Week after his performance in which he tossed two innings and allowed no runs on one hit with a walk and four strikeouts.
Reisbig did not play in the first game of the series against GVSU, but made a splash in the final three by hitting .462 (6-13) with three runs scored, a triple, two home runs, and five RBI. Xander has been the team's hottest hitter over the last 10 games with a .444 batting average (12-27) with nine runs scored, three home runs, and a team-high 15 RBI.
Coltrane Rubner also had a fantastic series going 7-of-17 (.412) at the plate with a run, double, and three RBI.
Sam Clay batted .375 (6-16) with a team-high five runs, two doubles, a stolen base, and three RBI. Clay over the team's last 10 games has made eight starts and is hitting .406 (13-32) with 11 runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, and 10 RBI. DU hit .302 (38-126) as a team while the Lakers batted .273 (36-132).
SERIES HISTORY
These two teams have met just once on the diamond and you have to go back to February 27, 2009 for that contest. DU prevailed 9-8 in Winter Haven, Florida.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Lewis and Davenport are two of the best turnaround teams in the Midwest Region. Davenport won 20 games all of last year and have already eclipsed that win total in 2025. The Flyers similarly had a 29-26 record a year ago and have raced out to a 20-6 overall record and are in first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 14-2 league mark. Lewis has won five straight games after a four-game sweep of league opponent Missouri-St. Louis last weekend and a win over Roosevelt on Tuesday. The Flyers are currently 9-0 at home this season and 6-3 in away games. LU has a very potent offense that ranks No. 19 in Division II in batting average (.333). They also utilize the long ball ranking fifth in home runs per game (1.73).
Mikey Kocen ranks third in Division II with a .478 batting average (44-92) with 36 runs scored, six doubles, three triples, nine home runs, and 33 RBI. He sports a .568 on-base percentage and .902 slugging percentage. He leads the GLVC in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. George Bilecki is leading the Flyers with 13 home runs and has a total of 35 RBI and a .370 batting average. Bilecki leads the GLVC in home runs and is No. 11 nationally. The team ERA is 5.54 this season with 233 strikeouts and just 83 walks in 203 innings. Dylan Wolff and Brendan Lawry lead the team with five wins on the mound. Wolff has a 4.50 ERA in six starts lasting 34 innings. He has 34 strikeouts with just eight walks. Lawry has a 4.60 ERA in six starts lasting 29.1 innings. He has 41 strikeouts with 20 walks. Jackson Bruno leads the team with three saves and has a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings with one walk and 13 strikeouts.
LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, Apr. 4 vs. Lewis (DH) – 1:00 PM –
Live Video (FloCollege) –
Live Stats
Sunday, Apr. 6 at Lewis (DH) – 1:00 PM (ET) –
Live Video (GLVC Network) –
Live Stats
