GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport baseball team will be making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Thursday, May 14 when they take on Missouri S&T at the GVSU Baseball Field in Allendale, Michigan. Game time is set for 11 AM as the Panthers are seeded No. 5 and the Miners occupy the No. 4 seed. Grand Valley State is the No. 1 seed in the regional and will face No. 8 seed Kentucky Wesleyan at 2 PM following the game between DU and Missouri S&T. The other sub-regional is hosted by No. 2 seed Illinois-Springfield and also features No. 3 Wayne State, No. 6 Missouri-St. Louis, and No. 7 Indianapolis.

The Panthers were an at-large selection and were one of three GLIAC teams to advance to postseason play. Davenport (29-26) opened up the GLIAC Tournament with wins over Saginaw Valley State (6-5) and Parkside (7-1). Saturday's game against GVSU went to the Lakers 18-6 to set up an elimination game later that night against Wayne State. DU took down the Warriors 12-5 to advance to the championship. The Lakers once again showed why they are a national title contender with a 12-3 victory.

Thursday's win over the Cardinals was a thriller as Sam Clay came off the bench to hit a two-run, walk-off homer to center field on a 0-1 pitch to give the Panthers their fourth straight walk-off win in the GLIAC Tournament. DU extended their tournament win streak to six games in the win over Parkside. The Panthers collected 12 hits with Justin Johnson and Ben Korson each hitting a homer. Cody Hultink recorded two hits, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI. Travis Liford went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a stolen base. Easton Remick had a stellar performance on the mound in 7 1/3 innings and struck out a season-high 10 Rangers.

Dylan Pawenski started off the Wayne State game with a three-run homer in the first inning as DU took a 4-0 lead. Wyatt Epple had a two-run triple in the eighth inning and went 2-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base. Liford drove in three runs with a home run and sacrifice fly and also scored twice with a stolen base. Johnson stole two bases and scored three runs. Jaden Alberson improved to 3-0 this season on the hill in relief. He tossed five innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs with two walks and five strikeouts.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Epple and Remick were named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the tournament. Epple batted .500 with nine hits, including two doubles, a triple and drove in a team-high seven runs. Remick, as mentioned before, had a great start against Parkside in his only appearance. The Panthers hit .298 during the five games and collected nine home runs, including three by Johnson, who drove in five runs and scored a team-high nine times. Korson hit .350 with seven hits and scored four runs. The team ERA was 7.95 in 43 innings with 23 walks and 28 strikeouts. Joe Chrapliwy had three scoreless relief innings and allowed no hits with a walk.

Single-Season Top-10 Leaders from 2026

• Dylan Pawenski
  • Slugging Pct. (.681) - 5th
  • Most home runs (13) - 3rd
  • Most RBIs (65) - 2nd
  • Most total bases (128) - 8th
  • Most thrown out base stealers (19) - 1st
• Aiden Warn
  • On-Base Pct. (.489) - 6th
  • Most walks (45) - 2nd (two away from T-1st)
  • Most hit by pitch (14) - T-7th
• Sam Clay
  • On-Base Pct. (.486) - 7th
• Wyatt Epple
  • Most at-bats (225) - T-3rd
  • Most hits (83) - T-3rd
  • Most stolen bases (19) - T-6th
• Justin Johnson
  • Runs Scored (58) - 5th
  • Most hits (79) - T-6th
  • Most home runs (11) - T-6th
  • Most total bases (130) - 7th
  • Most hit by pitch (21) - 2nd
• Travis Liford
  • Most doubles (20) - T-3rd
  • Most stolen bases (19) - T-6th

SERIES HISTORY
Davenport is 4-0 against Missouri S&T dating back to a four-game series on Feb. 22-23, 2020 in Rolla, Missouri. The Panthers averaged 12.3 runs per game in that sweep over the Miners.

Previous NCAA regional results:

• May 28, 2021 - Lindenwood 6, DU 2
• May 28, 2021 - DU 16, Northwood 1
• May 29, 2021 - DU 22, Quincy 13
• May 30, 2021 - DU 6, Trevecca Nazarene 2
• May 30, 2021 (Championship Game) - Trevecca Nazarene 11, DU 9
• May 19, 2022 - Quincy 17, DU 4
• May 20, 2022 - DU 8, Northwood 7 (11 inn)
• May 21, 2022 - Quincy 9, DU 7
• May 15, 2025 - DU 7, Ashland 6
• May 16, 2025 - UIndy 25, DU 13
• May 17, 2025 - UIndy 6, DU 1

All-Time Record in the NCAA Midwest Regional (5-6)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Missouri S&T is currently 34-18 overall and making a second straight trip to Allendale for the NCAA Midwest Regional. The No. 4 seed is the highest that the program has received since the region expanded to eight teams. The Miners reached the championship game of the GLVC Tournament before falling to UMSL. The team won a program record number of games in conference as well as the team's first outright regular-season conference title since 1972.

Dylan Bates is the team's ace with a 10-1 record and a 3.55 earned-run average. His 10 victories led the GLVC and is sixth in Division II. He has registered two complete games and one shutout in 58 1/3 innings. Bates has walked 29 and struck out 59 to lead the team. Dylan Wipf has been a standout coming in from the bullpen. He has 16 appearances with a 2.67 earned-run average. In addition, he has a 3-0 record and five saves with 18 walks and 38 strikeouts. The opposition is batting just .160 against him.

Drew Baugus is hitting .376 for the Miners with 65 hits, including nine doubles and two triples. Garrett Meyer has driven in a team-high 64 runs with 15 doubles, two triples, and a team-best eight home runs. The Miners have stolen 151 bases this season, which led the GLVC and was 11th in Division II. Bricen Smith swiped 32 bags to lead the team, while Baugus is right on his heels with 31. The Miners as a team also rank fourth in Division II getting plunked by a pitch 130 times.

SCHEDULE (Double Elimination)
Thursday, May 14
Davenport vs. Missouri S&T - 11 AM - Watch Live - Live Stats
Grand Valley vs. Kentucky Wesleyan - 2 PM

Friday, May 15
Game 3 - Loser of Game One vs. Loser of Game Two - 11 AM
Game 4 - Winner of Game One vs. Winner of Game Two - 2 PM
 
Saturday, May 16
Game 5 - Winner of Game Three vs. Loser of Game Four - 11 AM
Game 6 - Winner of Game Four vs. Winner of Game Five - 2 PM

Sunday, May 17
Game 7 - If Necessary - 12 PM


Regional Website (hosted by GVSU)
Tickets
NCAA National Scores