GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Zac Wilson went 6-for-8 with a pair of doubles and RBIs each as the sophomore and the rest of Davenport's second-ranked baseball team salvaged a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference doubleheader split with No. 23 Northwestern Ohio at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex Saturday. The Panthers failed a ninth-inning rally attempt in their 2-1 game one defeat but came through in the nightcap, scoring three in the seventh to walk away with a 6-5 win.
 
The doubleheader split keeps Davenport (39-4, 23-2 WHAC) a game and a half ahead of Northwestern Ohio (33-9, 21-3 WHAC). With rain on the forecast Sunday, the two schools agreed to push their first pitch to 11 a.m.
 
Game 1 – Northwestern Ohio 2, Davenport 1
The main difference in the ball game was in the fourth inning when Jose Cruz hit a fly ball into the wind that helped pushed it over the fence for a two-run shot.
 
Corey Murphy, despite allowing the home run, went on to scatter six hits but didn't issue a walk on 89 pitches. His counterpart Brodie Mitchell surrendered five hits and a walk in seven shutout innings.
 
The Panthers stranded nine base runners throughout the contest, included the bases loaded in the ninth. The lone run came in that inning when Zac Wilson hit a double to left to complete a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate.
 
Game 2 – Davenport 6, Northwestern Ohio 5
The Racers struck first again in the third inning when a wild pitch and a RBI single brought in two runs. Davenport did answer back and cut the deficit in half in their side of the inning when Matt Priebe delivered an RBI single to left to score in Wilson.
 
Although Northwestern Ohio regained the two-run lead in the fourth, they added two more in the fifth using back-to-back inning-opening hits and using a groundout and sacrifice fly.
 
Davenport's seventh inning rally began with Cam Cooper getting hit by the pitch, and Connor Seymour won a free pass to first via walk. Wilson drove in the first run with a double to left field and another hit-by-pitch to Bender loaded the bases. Matt Priebe forced in a run with a walk and a double-play ball hit by Zack Sardellitti was enough to bring in the tying run. Jordan Zylstra followed with a quick line drive down the third base line for the walkoff.
 
Anthony Alarcon was charged with all five runs in his four-inning outing. He scattered six hits and a walk. Ryan Butzer threw two shutout frames and Alex Schuiling collected his fifth win of the season throwing a scoreless seventh.
 
Baseball Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-871-6180 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
DU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Baseball: Twitter | Facebook