HAMMOND, Ind. – Senior Jacob Lane (Indianapolis, Ind./Kankakee CC/Lawrence Central) had three hits, including a double and a triple, but the Purdue Northwest baseball team lost the opening game of its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) series with Davenport University (Mich.), 13-3, Friday afternoon at Albert's Diamond Jewelers Field at Dowling Park in Hammond, Ind.  The Pride scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Panthers got off to a faster start scoring six runs in the top half of the first.

DU took control early racking up five hits, including a grand slam down the right field line, to take a quick 6-0 lead.  PNW answered in the bottom half of the first with a RBI double to right field by Lane sparking the three-run surge.  Junior Evan Finke (Columbus, Ind./Snead State CC/Columbus North) hit a RBI single to right field and sophomore Tyler Kenjic (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) added a RBI triple to centerfield to complete the Pride's scoring.

After the high-scoring first inning, both starting pitchers settled in and neither team scored again until the top of the fifth when Davenport hit a solo homer to right field.  Leading 7-3 heading to the sixth inning, the Panthers pulled away for good scoring four more runs on a pair of RBI doubles and a pair of RBI singles.  DU went up 12-3 in the top of the eighth on a RBI double and scored its last run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch.         

Senior Jimmy Skiff (Dyer, Ind./Andrean) suffered the loss (3-3) as the PNW starter Friday.  He pitched 5.2 innings and allowed 14 hits, 11 runs (all earned) and two walks with a pair of strikeouts.  Junior Jade Doyle (Greenwood, Ind./Ancilla College/Center Grove) pitched 2.1 innings of relief and gave up three hits, one run (earned) and two walks.  Sophomore Caden Bell (Hammond, Ind./HAST) threw the final inning and allowed one hit, one run (earned) and two walks. 

Purdue Northwest (18-22 overall/8-16 GLIAC) continues the conference series with Davenport on Saturday, May 5, with a doubleheader.  The first of the doubleheader is scheduled for a noon CT start at Albert's Diamond Jewelers Field at Dowling Park in Hammond, Ind.