LANSING, Mich. - The never-say-die Davenport baseball team captured the 2025 GLIAC Tournament championship on Sunday with their third straight walk-off win to complete the "Davenport Double". DU won the regular season and tournament title for the third time in program history and went 4-0 in the tournament.
The Panthers (41-13) took the title with a 7-4 win over Wayne State in 11 innings at Jackson Field in Lansing. The team trailed until the ninth inning when they scored once to force extra innings. In the 11th,
Parker Neel was hit by a pitch to lead off against WSU's fifth pitcher of the game in TJ McAllister.
Wyatt Epple pinch ran at first and moved to second with one out on a walk to
Logan Todd. Gabe Nazelli was asked to get out of the jam, but
Sam Clay had other ideas. He was 0-for-6 in the game and needed a hit to extend his hit streak to 19. Clay launched the walk-off, three-run homer to left for propel the Panthers to the tournament title.
Wayne State got off to a 2-0 start in the first inning off
Zach Hopman for the Panthers. Bennett Hitzelberger doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Mason McGuire walked and stole second and Jacoby Dale also walked to load the bases. Aidan Arbogast grounded into a fielder's choice as Dale was out at second, but the throw to try and complete the double play went wild allowing Hitzelberger and McGuire to score.
Davenport got on the board in the fourth inning as
Xander Reisbig walked to lead off and
Justin Johnson singled through the left side.
Dylan Pawenski walked with one out to load the bases and then
Garrett Swan grounded to third and beat the throw on the double play turn to allow Johnson to score. Tony Hatzigeorgiou homered to left to start the fifth inning and get the run right back for a 3-1 lead.
The Panthers scored once in the bottom of the fifth. Todd was hit by pitch and moved to third on a one-out double by
Coltrane Rubner. Reisbig had a RBI single to score Todd for a 3-2 score. WSU scored again in the sixth off Hopman as Drew Hill had a RBI triple with two outs and then
Mason Hill entered on the mound.
Davenport would score again in the seventh as Rubner singled with one out and scored on a RBI double by Reisbig for a 4-3 score. The Panthers had many chances to take the lead, but stranded a total of 17 runners in the game. They left the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth innings and left two runners on base in the ninth and 10th innings.
DU forced extra innings in the ninth as Ethan Getting came on to close out the game for the Warriors. He walked
Cody Hultink and Pawenski followed with a single to left. Hultink advanced all the way to third and Pawenski pulled into second. Hultink was thrown out heading back to third on a grounder by Swan for the first out.
Chase Kemp walked to load the bases and Pawenski scored from third on a passed ball to tie the game at 4-4. Getting would strike out Todd and Clay to move into the 10th inning.
Hill was cruising for DU as he retired the Warriors in the 10th and 11th with three strikeouts in those two innings. He would pitch a season-high 5.1 innings to get the win improving to 5-0 this season. He allowed no runs on just one hit with a walk and a season-high seven strikeouts. Hopman got his second start of the season and lasted 5.2 innings. He yielded four runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
Wayne State pitchers threw 216 pitches and McAllister took the loss going to 1-2. Warrior pitching allowed nine walks and hit eight Panthers on the day. It was the most times DU has been hit by a pitch in a game this season and the most in a game in school history. Reisbig went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two walks. Rubner finished 3-for-5 with a walk and run scored. Clay's home run was the fourth of the season and now gives him 36 RBI. Todd was the only Panther to score two runs and drew a walk with two hit by pitch.
The Panthers will now await the location and opponent for the upcoming NCAA Midwest Regional. That announcement is scheduled to take place Sunday, May 11 at 10:30 PM on NCAA.com.
