Panthers Fight Back: Davenport Outlasts Minnesota Crookston 10-7
Davenport Takes Down Minnesota Crookston
The Davenport University Panthers and the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles battled at the Space Coast Spring Games today, and if you missed the action, you missed a great one. This game was defined by massive momentum swings, and in the end, it was Davenport that did what was needed in crunch time to take ownership of it.
After a quick top half of the first, the Golden Eagles struck first in the bottom of the frame, and it was set up by a couple of miscues. After Davenport’s Hannah Tahaney struck out Emily Kalina, things took a turn. Tahaney hit Rayna French with a pitch, and Chayse Doering followed with a bunt single to give Crookston two on with one out.
Things were still manageable, but then Megan Surgenor laid down a bunt and reached on an error after Madison Cole sailed a throw over the first baseman’s head. French came home to put the Golden Eagles up 1-0.
Tahaney bounced back with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning without further damage. She had good stuff early, and so did Delaney Penner for Crookston. Both pitchers were effective through the opening frames.
Penner kept spinning it and opened the top of the third with a strikeout to Kylie Hegland. Sydney Drenth then snuck a single past a diving second baseman to reach first, and Alex Rendon appeared to have singled into a routine out, but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. That gave Davenport two on with one out.
Penner took matters into her own hands from there. She struck out Chloe Bruman for her third punchout of the day and finished with a Randi Robakowski groundout right back to her. Minnesota Crookston was getting the job done in situations with runners on base, eliminating threats when it mattered.
But the Golden Eagles still needed insurance, and they went to work in the bottom of the third. Doering singled through the 5-6 hole to move French to second, and Surgenor followed with an RBI double over the center fielder’s head to make it 3-0. Surgenor then advanced to third on a pitch that got away from Cole and came home on a Valerie VanZant sac fly to right. Just like that, it was 4-0, Minnesota Crookston.
Madeline Murray added a two-out double down the third base line, but Tahaney answered with her fifth strikeout to close the inning.
Penner came back out and opened the fourth with a strikeout swinging to Ally Prasnjak before Alaina Schwanke singled and Cole doubled off the fence in the left-center gap. Davenport had runners on second and third with one out, and this was their chance to make up ground.
Kailyn Luna placed an RBI single just beyond second base to put the Panthers on the board, 4-1. But Davenport was far from done. Drenth drilled a two-RBI single up the middle to pull the Panthers within one, and Chloe Parker followed with an RBI double to tie the game at four. The Panthers had seen Penner a couple of times through the order, and they had started to figure her out. A massive four-run fourth gave Davenport a clean slate.
Jordan Empie came on to start the bottom of the fourth and opened with a strikeout, showing good movement on each side of the plate. After Crookston’s Madisen Yandle had a hit snagged by third baseman Luna, Kalina came through with a two-out, stand-up triple to give the Golden Eagles a shot at reclaiming the lead.
After Empie hit French with a pitch, she was staring down runners on the corners and needed just one out to escape the jam. But Chayse Doering had much bigger plans. Doering smacked an inside-the-park, three-run home run to put Minnesota Crookston back up 7-4. You could not have asked for a better moment from Doering, and her speed on the basepaths made that inside-the-park homer look easy.
Davenport went to Kayla Widner after that, and she got the one out needed to close out the inning.
The Panthers battled in the top of the fifth. Robakowski led off with a single and stole second. Prasnjak kept things going with a single to move Robakowski to third. Davenport was setting itself up for another big inning.
Hannah Trzinski came in for Penner, and Prasnjak stole second with Robakowski scoring to make it 7-5. After Trzinski responded with a strikeout and a groundout, Luna reached on an error and Prasnjak came in to pull the Panthers within one, 7-6.
Late in the game, this thing had turned into a nail-biting affair. Widner made it through the bottom of the fifth without allowing Crookston to plate a run, and that gave Davenport a chance to get all the way back.
Lexi McCarty led off the sixth with a single, and things began to shift for Trzinski. With one out, she walked McCarty and Hegland on back-to-back bases on balls to load the bases. The pitching change was made for Gabrielle Gomez, and Julia Perry immediately tied the game with an RBI single to bring in McCarty.
After Prasnjak reached on a fielder’s choice with Ashley Sturgill thrown out at home, a Schwanke two-RBI single and a Cole RBI single put the Panthers up 10-7. Davenport had completely flipped the game in their favor heading into the bottom of the sixth, and that is where things would stand when it was all over.
Huge props to the Panthers for stepping up when it counted and taking control of this one down the stretch.
