LANSING, Mich. -
Coltrane Rubner kept the Davenport baseball team undefeated in the GLIAC Tournament on Friday afternoon with a two-out, walk-off single to propel the Panthers (39-13) to a 4-3 win over Parkside (30-21) and eliminate them from the tournament. DU improved to 27-3 all-time against the Rangers and beat them for the second time in their tournament history. The Panthers also improved to 8-4 in one-run games this season.
The Panthers saw a 3-1 lead slip through their hands in the top of the ninth as the Rangers tied the game with a pair of runs. DU was 23-0 this season when leading after eight innings.
Adam Berghorst pitched a gem for Davenport and went into the ninth. He threw 127 pitches and came out with one out in the ninth. Berghorst allowed one earned run on seven hits with two walks and struck out a season high eight. It was also his longest outing of the season.
Mason Hill entered with runners on first and second and got a strikeout of Koto Sato for the second out. Peter Fusek hit a high chopper to shortstop and
Logan Todd's throw was wide of first and allowed the Rangers to score their second run of the game. Hill then threw a wild pitch to tie the game as pinch runner Max Johnson scored.
Carter Storti was on the mound for Parkside in the ninth and started off strong with two outs. Then the Panthers focused in on the task at hand.
Logan Todd singled through the left side and
Sam Clay did the same to set up Rubner. He found grass in left center and Todd scored from second with the winning run.
Hill got the win (4-0) and Storti took the loss (3-1) for the pitching decisions. The other scoring plays for Davenport included a RBI single by
Justin Johnson in the first. Then in the fourth inning,
Cody Hultink and
Dylan Pawenski each had a sacrifice fly. Clay extended his hit streak to 18 games, going 2-for-5. Rubner had a 2-for-5 day. Johnson went 3-for-4 and stole a base.
The team will now await the winner of Grand Valley State / Wayne State who plays at 7 PM on Friday. The remaining unbeaten teams will play on Saturday at 11 AM in Lansing, Mich. at Jackson Field.
