CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport baseball team showed their resolve on Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader sweep over 16th-ranked Wayne State. The Panthers suffered one of the worst losses in their history on Friday, but managed to forget about that and put together a pair of victories on Senior Day at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex.

GAME 1
James Rogers tossed five solid innings and Travis Harvey hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to break a 3-3 tie and put Davenport ahead for good 5-3. The Warriors struck first in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Rudy Ramirez walked after falling behind in the count 1-2 with one out and then Robert Iacobelli was plunked. The Panthers looked to have a third out during a rundown on a pickoff, but the ball was dropped which allowed Ramirez to score the unearned run.

Davenport took a 2-1 lead in the third inning as they loaded the bases with two outs. Noah Marcoux came through with a two-run single to center which scored Jacob Buchberger and Nolan Bryant. The Warriors regained the lead with two runs in the fifth. Hunter DeLanoy had the big hit with a two-out, two-run scoring triple to right off the wall.

The Panthers took the lead in the fifth with three runs. Bryant doubled to right to start the inning and took third on a passed ball. Huard singled through the right side on a drawn-in infield to tie the game at 3-3. He stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Matt Krutsch got the start for Wayne State and was replaced by Richard Hovde. Hovde was greeted rudely as Harvey lifted a two-run home run over the right field wall for his seventh of the season.

Pete Zeimis replaced Rogers to start the sixth and keep the two-run lead intact. He stranded a one-out double by Jack Schmidt in the sixth and then retired the Warriors in order with two strikeouts looking in the seventh to earn his third save. Rogers moved to 6-2 on the season with the win going five innings with five strikeouts. Watson was the only player for DU with multiple hits going 2-for-3. Bryant hit his 14th double of the season and scored twice. Buchberger stole his 21st base of the season ranking him fourth in a single-season for DU.

GAME 2
Davenport took the nightcap by a 9-7 margin and rallied from a 4-1 deficit entering the bottom of the fourth. Gaetano Vallone gave up three runs in the first but settled down to keep his team in the game. He finished with four innings and five runs allowed with two walks and three strikeouts. Spencer Vainavicz earned his first career win at DU in relief. He tossed two innings and gave up two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. 

Dillon McInerney gave up a run in the first and then ran into trouble in the fourth as DU scored five runs to take a 6-4 lead. Harvey had a pure hustle infield single to second in the first which scored Marcoux who tripled to right center with two outs. Watson doubled to left center to get the fourth inning on the right foot. He stood at third with two outs when the offense responded. Hunter Ruhstorfer had an infield single to deep shortstop to score Watson. Buchberger followed with a single through the left side. Bryant singled to right as Ruhstorfer scored. The big blow was next as Marcoux hit a no-doubt home run to right for his eighth of the season and a 6-4 lead. Brennan Cox replaced McInerney after the home run and got the final out on a liner off the bat of Harvey.

Michael MacLean led off the Wayne State fifth with his eighth home run of the season to cut it to 6-5 and then Vainavicz took the mound for the Panthers. He got the next two batters out but walked Tristen Jorah on eight pitches and then walked Davis Graham. WSU tied it on a third-strike passed ball as Ramirez struck out but hustled to first and Jorah scored the tying run from third.

The Panthers responded with two runs in the fifth as Huard tripled to left center which scored Watson from first. Jimmy Filipski then hit a RBI bloop single up the middle as Huard scored for the 8-6 lead. The Panthers added another run in the sixth as Buchberger singled and stole second. Marcoux continued his prowess at the plate with a ground-rule RBI double to center to score Buchberger and give DU a 9-6 lead. It was his fourth RBI of the game and sixth of the doubleheader.

Vainavicz gave up a double down the left field line by Justin Kelly and DeLanoy singled to right to start the seventh inning. Buchberger moved to the mound and got a sacrifice fly for the first out as Kelly scored. Graham then ended the game on a 6-4-3 double play as Buchberger earned his second save of the season.

Buchberger stole his 22nd base of the season in game two going 2-for-4 at the plate. Harvey went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Cox took his first loss of the season (3-1) for the Warriors going the final 2.1 innings and allowing three runs and four hits.

ON DECK
The Panthers (25-16, 11-11 GLIAC) will try to complete a series win tomorrow at noon with their fourth game of the weekend against Wayne State (30-11, 14-8 GLIAC).