LANSING, Mich. - For the first time in program history, the Davenport Panther baseball team can say they are GLIAC Tournament Champions! DU left no doubt on Sunday with a 9-1 win over Grand Valley State at Jackson Field. The win propels the Panthers to 30-14 overall and they have won 30-plus games in nine straight seasons. The win also means that Davenport will be in the upcoming NCAA regionals also for the first time since joining NCAA Division II.

"I could not be happier for this group of guys," said head coach Kevin Tidey. "This has been so much fun over the last three weeks and seeing us grow together as a team. We got such great contributions from everyone in the lineup including the bottom third of the order. Our pitching was also lights out and held it together in tough spots. A lot of hard work goes into winning a championship and this team is special."

Grand Valley State actually jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the second as Anthony Cocco had a sacrifice fly to center field. That was all the Lakers could muster on offense as Davenport pitching limited them to five hits on the day. Duncan Gillett improved to 2-0 on the mound going five innings as the starter. Gillett allowed four hits and one run with two walks and two strikeouts. Dalton O'Boyle gave his team three solid relief innings and allowed one hit with three strikeouts. Zach Haefer closed out the final three outs and struck out a batter.

Christian Petre, Noah Marcoux and Carson Eby each recorded a double. Travis Harvey hit his third home run of the season on a two-run blast to left in the sixth inning. Davenport scored three times in the third and sixth innings. Marcoux had a RBI single in the third followed by a Kamrin Markwardt RBI single up the middle and a sacrifice fly by Ben Mets.

Marcoux hit a long RBI double off the center field wall in the sixth which then led to Harvey's home run for an 8-1 lead. Nolan Bryant had a RBI single in the seventh to conclude the scoring.

The Panthers will now await their location and opponent for the NCAA Regionals. You can watch that selection show tonight at 10 PM at the following link: https://t.co/bWU2oYXTHs?amp=1