CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport baseball team had a valiant comeback effort in Game 1 and got a strong start from junior Evan Maize in Game 2 as they split with Grand Valley State on Saturday. DU trailed 6-1 entering the bottom of the seventh in Game 1 and forced extra innings with five runs. The Lakers unfortunately got a run in the top of the ninth and won 7-6. Maize tossed his first career complete game in the nightcap as DU got timely hits in the 5-2 win.

James Rogers and Mark Scannell dueled for the first three innings of scoreless ball in Game 1. The Panthers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Carson Eby had a RBI single to score Noah Marcoux. The Lakers tied it in the fifth and then scored three times in the sixth. Joe Laudont had a RBI single and Kyle Nott followed with a two-run single for a 4-1 lead. GVSU scored twice more in the seventh as Carter Smith scored on a wild pitch and Laudont had a RBI triple to right center.

It looked like those runs would end things but the Panthers did not lay down in the bottom of the seventh. Kamrin Markwardt led off the inning with his first home run of the season on a laser over the left field wall. Dylan Watson was then hit by a pitch as Scannell was replaced by Michael Barno. Hunter Ruhstorfer reached on a fielding error and then Nolan Anspaugh took a high fastball and lifted a towering fly ball and glided over the left field wall for a three-run homer to make it 6-5. It was the seventh home run of the season for Anspaugh. Nolan Bryant followed with a walk as Barno was pulled for Jared Skubic. Marcoux singled and Bryant moved to third. Eby then hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game at 6.

A leadoff walk to Smith in the ninth from Cal Djuraskovic proved lethal as he came around to score the eventual winning run. Parker Murdie bunted him to second and Jake Rydquist singled to right as Smith scored. The Panthers went down in order in the bottom of the ninth. Djuraskovic took the loss (2-1) and Skubic got the win (2-0). Anspaugh finished 3-for-5 as did Marcoux who had a pair of doubles. Travis Harvey also went 2-for-5 as DU totaled 13 hits. Dylan Watson and Christian Petre also had a double.

In Game 2, it was Maize who picked up his first win of the season (1-1) and threw the first complete game of his career. He tossed seven innings and scattered nine hits. He allowed two earned runs with no walks and three strikeouts and needed 89 pitches to go the distance.

Austin Brown (1-4) took the loss for the Lakers going 4.1 innings and allowing three earned runs and six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Each team scored in the first inning as Smith led off the game with a triple and scored on Murdie's grounder to third. Harvey had a RBI single to center for DU's scoring play in the first.

Harvey was back at it in the fifth to break the tie. He chopped a grounder that went over the head of Rydquist at third and scored Eby and Bryant with the go-ahead runs. Marcoux put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a majestic two-run homer to center for his ninth round-tripper of the season. Eby had a pair of doubles in Game 2 with a walk. Carter Troncin also went 2-for-3 at the plate.