Bat Pats go 2-2 in four-game series

Photo by SCC Sports Information

Tyler Mischel, a junior from St. Louis, had a triple, two runs batted in and two runs scored in the 8-3 bat Pat’s victory in Saturday’s second game.

The Davenport University Panthers traveled to Edelen-Haydon Field for their first four games of the season last weekend. And they made the long ride from Michigan worth it as they were able to split two doubleheaders against Luther Bramblett’s St. Catharine nine.

St. Catharine took Friday’s opener 6-0, but the Panthers rebounded for a 4-3 win in the nightcap. On Saturday, the Panthers won the first game 8-4 and the Bat Pats gained a split with an 8-3 win in the second game.
The 2-2 weekend leaves St. Catharine with a 6-4 record. Tuesday they journeyed to Martin Methodist in Tennessee. This weekend they will be back at Edelen-Haydon Field for four more games. On Friday and Saturday Benedictine University from Illinois will provide the opposition. Also, the Bat Pats will play single games against OSU-Lima on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday
St. Catharine, 5-3, got a strong pitching performance in the first game shutout from Ryan Rizzi. The junior transfer from Lansing, Ill. allowed three hits, no walks and fanned five in six innings. Trenton Claunch worked a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
Jeremy Turpin had two of the Bat Pats’ five hits. Luis Zeledon had a two-run double and Matt Foster  had a run-scoring double.
The Panthers struck early in game two with a run in the first inning off starter Matt Pavelich. That was the only run he would allow in his five innings of work, but Davenport got to the St. Catharine bullpen for three runs in the sixth inning.
Cory Klinger  allowed two of those runs without retiring a batter, and Matt Wagner surrendered the final run.
But the Bat Pats didn’t go down without a fight, as they plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Walks to Turpin and Tyler Mischel were sandwiched around a single by Juan Moriel  to load the bases with no outs. Andrew Garcia then cleared the bases with a double. But the Panthers’ reliever retired the next three batters to end the game.
Mischel and Garcia had two hits apiece in the Bat Pats’ seven-hit attack. Panthers’ pitchers issued six walks, but the bat Pats’ couldn’t take advantage of the free passes, as they stranded 10 runners.

Saturday
The Patriots took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Saturday’s opener and extended the advantage to 4-0 with two more runs in the fourth frame. But the Panthers plated four runs in the fifth and sixth innings to post the 8-4 win.
St. Catharine only mustered three hits in the game, C. J. Englestad having two of those.
Matt Wagner, who relieved starter Javier Perez, pitched one inning and gave up four runs to take the loss. Perez allowed four runs on seven hits before leaving with one out in the fifth inning.
In game two the Bat Pats grabbed a 3-1 lead after one inning and never trailed in picking up the 8-3 win. Timothy Reed went the distance on the mound for St. Catharine. The junior right-hander allowed four hits and two earned runs. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Eric Standafer had three of the Bat Pats’ nine hits and Andrew Garcia had two. Standafer had a double and three runs batted in. Mischel had a triple with two RBI and two runs scored.