GARY, Ind. – The No. 6 seed Purdue Northwest overcame a five-run deficit in the fifth and a three-run deficit in the seventh inning on its way to a massive 10-8 upset win over top-seeded Davenport in Thursday's opening day of action at the GLIAC Baseball Tournament, hosted at the U.S. Steel Yard.
With the win, PNW (19-21) notched its first GLIAC Tournament victory and became the first team in 13 years to defeat the top seed at the GLIAC Tournament in the first round of preliminary games. Davenport (30-21) entered the matchup as the reigning GLIAC Tournament champion, GLIAC regular-season champion and ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region this week. The Panthers were also coming off a four-game sweep over the Pride last weekend.
Trailing 8-5 entering the seventh, the Pride poured on four runs after three straight hits from
Bret Matthys (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central),
Hayden Matulich (San Jose, Calif./Pioneer) and
Tyler Schultz (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) to spark the rally. Schultz singled through the left side to plate both runners after they moved up on a wild pitch, and that trimmed the deficit to one.
Three batters later,
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) doubled with two outs to bring home Schultz for the tying run to make the score 8-8. Following a pitching change,
Luke Montgomery (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence High School) drew a two-out walk and then
Ray Hilbrich (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) provided the go-ahead run on his opposite-field single for his third hit of the game.
Hilbrich went 3 for 6 in the leadoff spot which included his 10th double of the season to open the game. He's currently hitting for a school-record .396 batting average on the season.
Five others recorded multi-hit games, including Gallagher, Matthys, Matulich, Schultz and
Anthony Fumagalli (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School), as the Pride outhit the Panthers 14-9. Gallagher extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in his second at-bat.
Noah Burgh (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw Community High School) (4-1) was solid in relief and picked up his fourth win. The sophomore right-hander tossed four-and-two-thirds while only giving up three hits with a pair of strikeouts and walks.
Burgh entered the bottom of the fifth with one out and the bases loaded after the Panthers regained the lead off starter
Sam Shively (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka (Taylor)) (4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 3 BB). After allowing the first two batters to reach safely, Burgh battled to induce an inning-ending double play and prevented further damage but the Pride trailed 8-5.
After the big seventh-inning rally, double plays were huge for the preserving PNW's one-run lead as Burgh also ended the eighth and ninth innings with a double play.
The Pride tacked on the insurance run in the ninth on Montgomery's sacrifice fly.
Davenport escaped a bases-loaded threat from PNW in the first inning as the Panthers claimed the first lead of the game with a run in the second frame. GLIAC Player of the Year Nolan Anspaugh homered in the third inning and then DU scored three in the fourth to grab an early 5-0 advantage.
Anspaugh went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and Gaetano Vallone went 3 for 4 to lead the Panthers at the plate.
DU's Carson Fischer suffered the loss after surrendering four runs on four hits in two innings of relief. Starter Derrick Edington went four-and-two-thirds with five earned runs on six hits and three walks allowed.
ALL-GLIAC HONORS
The Purdue Northwest baseball team had five individuals selected to the 2022 All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Team including multiple first-team performers for the first time in team history.
Ray Hilbrich (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) and
Ethan Imlach (Mokena, Ill./Mount Carmel) were each voted to the first team, while second-team honoree
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) and honorable-mention selections
Sam Shively (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka (Taylor)) and
Tyler Schultz (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) were the additional all-conference award winners for the Pride. The awards presentation took place on the field following PNW's tournament win over Davenport.
UP NEXT
PNW will play fourth-seeded Grand Valley State following the Lakers' loss in the night game to No. 3 seed Northwood. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Baseball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics / @PNW_Baseball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
