From Davenport Sports Information

CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport baseball team took care of business on Saturday and then got a result they were hoping for to not only celebrate Senior Day but also another GLIAC regular season championship. The Panthers won 3-1 and 6-4 against Purdue Northwest, and Saginaw Valley beat Northwood in extra innings in game 2 of their doubleheader to propel the Panthers to back-to-back GLIAC regular season titles.

Davenport improved to 29-20 overall and 17-6 in the GLIAC.

"I'm super proud of our guys the last couple of days," said head coach Kevin Tidey. "Purdue Northwest is a scrappy team offensively and put a lot of pressure on us. It was good to see us respond especially with the wind blowing in like it was. We had to play a different game than what we typically play, so it was good to see us execute when we needed it. This season hasn't gone according to plan at times and we've been able to adjust and adapt. We've had so many guys step up and that's what makes this second title special. We got to celebrate our nine seniors today and that group goes down in history as multiple champions."

The Pride made the Panthers sweat out both wins today, but Davenport extended their win streak to five games and have taken the first three games of the weekend series. Game one featured strong pitching and defense and DU scored single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. Both teams had seven hits in the contest including two extra-base hits apiece. Carter Troncin opened the scoring in the second with an RBI single to left center to score Ben Mets. The Pride tied it up in the third as Ray Hilbrich singled up the middle and Jake Soules scored.

Davenport took a 2-1 lead in the third as Gaetano Vallone had a RBI sacrifice bunt which scored Nolan Anspaugh. Anspaugh tripled with one out, his 11th of the season and 20th of his career. In the fourth inning, Carson Eby had a double down the left field line with one out. Caleb Anspaugh walked on four pitches and Troncin had an infield single to load the bases. Tyler Mosher drove home Eby on a sacrifice fly to left for the 3-1 lead.

James Kohl got the start and lasted 2.2 innings. He allowed five hits and one run before giving way to Alex Lord. He threw one pitch and got the final out of the third inning. Isaac Van Dyke finished the final four innings to improve to 1-0 on the mound this season. Van Dyke allowed just two hits and no runs with two walks and a strikeout.

Game two was highlighted by 14 hits from the Panthers and they were all singles. The Pride had 11 hits of their own but five errors did them in. The Pride led 4-1 at one point heading into the bottom of the fifth. DU scored twice in that inning to cut the deficit to 4-3. Mets drew a bases-loaded walk and Caleb Anspaugh had a RBI single through the left side.

The Panthers took a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning as Troncin reached on a fielder's choice earning a RBI to tie the game. The Pride then tried to throw to second base on a pickoff attempt the ball ricocheted off Caleb Anspaugh into right field. Anspaugh scored all the way from second on the play for the one-run lead. The Panthers added an insurance run in the eighth inning as Mets capped off a 3-for-4 game with a RBI on a dropped fly ball to center field. Nolan Anspaugh scored on the play which was wacky because the Panthers thought the ball was caught and bobbled on the exchange from glove to hand. Purdue Northwest was able to record outs on the play because runners did not advance on what was an error instead of a sacrifice fly.

Davenport pitchers struck out 14 batters in game two as Carson Fischer got the win (5-1) and fanned a season-high eight. He went 3.2 innings and allowed three hits and no runs with just one walk. Spencer Vainavicz earned his third save of the season pitching the final two innings. He allowed no hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Mets finished with three RBI and Nolan Anspaugh went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Christian Petre also had a 2-for-4 game at the plate.

The two teams will conclude the regular season tomorrow at noon on Mother's Day in a single nine-inning game.