By: Ryan Thompson, Assistant AD for Communications
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 2026 season did not exactly get off to the kind of start that the Davenport baseball team had hoped for getting swept in three games at Rockhurst. The Panthers were preseason No. 23 in the D2Baseball.com Poll and will now look to rebound against the University of Indianapolis. The Panthers and Greyhounds are scheduled for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday in Johnson City, Tennessee at TVA Credit Union Ballpark. The Rockhurst series was tightly contested with a pair of one-run losses and a two-run setback against the Hawks.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Davenport finished the Rockhurst series with a team batting average of .309 compared to .286 for the Hawks. The Panthers will hope for a little more juice out of their bats as they did not hit a homer compared to three for Rockhurst. They did manage 10 doubles in the series and actually out-hit the Hawks 29-26.
Justin Johnson picked up where he left off last season batting .500 (6-of-12) with a 1.238 OPS. He had a pair of doubles and drove in a run.
Aiden Warn, in his first action as a Panther, went 2-of-4 at the plate with three runs scored and a RBI.
Sam Clay batted .308 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI.
Wyatt Epple also batted .308 and tied for the team lead with three RBI.
Cody Hultink and
Julian Contreras also drove in three runs during the three-game set.
The pitching numbers were not as promising for Davenport with a staff ERA of 7.54 in 22.2 innings of work. The walks were up at 24 and they struck out Rockhurst 22 times.
Sean Knorr did have a great debut tossing five innings and allowing three hits and one earned run with four strikeouts. The other two starters in the rotation could not last three innings in their starts. DU used 13 different pitchers in the opening series.
SERIES HISTORY
These two teams have one of the best Midwest Region clashes in recent memory. The latest installment went to the Greyhounds as they came into last year's NCAA regional at DU and beat the Panthers twice. UIndy won 25-13 on May 16 and then eliminated the Panthers 6-1 on May 17. Prior to that, DU had won three straight games. The teams played four regular-season games last season in Indianapolis with DU claiming three wins. UIndy leads the all-time series, 7-5, which started in the 2022 season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
UIndy made the NCAA Super Regional appearance last season, but this year has started slow out of the gates with a 2-5 record. They began their season Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at No. 21 Mississippi College and dropped three of four games. All three of their losses came by one run in a highly-competitive series. In the second game of the series, the Greyhounds won 4-0 behind a complete-game, seven-inning gem from Gavin Smith. He allowed just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts and needed just 80 pitches to navigate the lineup. Gavin Duran had a triple, walk, and run scored. Luke Smock had a RBI double in the fourth inning. Carter Thomas and Solen Munson each recorded two hits. UIndy last weekend traveled to Joplin, Missouri for three games. They fell twice to Minnesota State and defeated Missouri Southern. In the 5-3 victory over Missouri Southern, Aidan Pearson got the win in relief tossing 3.1 innings and striking out four. Drake Downing also got his first save with a clean ninth inning. The Greyhounds scored three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth. Joey Humphrey and Brayton Bowen each homered coming off the bench. Humphrey's long ball tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth and Bowen's bomb extended the lead to 5-2 in the ninth.
SERIES SCHEDULE
All games to be played at TVA Credit Union Ballpark in Johnson City, Tenn.
Friday, Feb. 20 - 12:00 PM / 6:45 PM
Saturday, Feb. 21 - 4:00 PM (DH)
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