HAMMOND, Ind. – Purdue Northwest's ninth-inning rally came up short in Friday's series-opening contest against Davenport as the Panthers edged the Pride 2-1 at Dowling Park.
PNW fell to 7-11 overall and 1-8 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchups, while Davenport improved to 13-8 (6-4 GLIAC) on the season.
Trailing 2-0 in the ninth, the Pride loaded the bases with no outs but could only push one run across on
Jake Soules' sacrifice fly.
Ray Hansen led off the final frame with a single up the middle,
Alex Gasbarro drew a walk and
Jackson Lund reached on a throwing error after his sacrifice bunt.
DU brought on closer Cal Djuraskov midway through the ninth and the southpaw picked up his fourth save following the close finish.
PNW received solid mound efforts from
Anthony Noble and
Justin Walter in the tight contest – which proved to be the lowest scoring league game of the season for both teams.
Noble went six innings and surrendered just two earned runs for the third consecutive outing. The sophomore right-hander recorded a season-high five strikeouts and scattered five hits with three walks. Walter came on in the seventh and tossed a season-high three innings of shutout relief without giving up a hit.
The pitcher's duel remained scoreless until the Panthers plated the first run on a ground-rule double in the sixth. An RBI groundout in the seventh put the visitors up 2-0.
DU starter James Kohl threw seven shutout frames with six strikeouts, five walks and only three hits allowed. The left-hander improved to 4-0 with the victory.
Ray Hilbrich led the Pride at the plate with a 2-for-4 effort including his sixth double.
Hunter Thorn singled and reached twice via walks. Gasbarro recorded his first collegiate double in the second inning.
PNW outhit Davenport 6-5 on the day as the teams combined to strand 16 runners. The Pride left 10 runners on base.
DU's Noah Marcoux had a pair of hits for the Panthers including an RBI double.
NEXT UP
These two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at Dowling Park with Game 1 slated for a 1 p.m. CDT first pitch.
