Mount Pleasant, IA. – The Panthers traveled to Mount Pleasant, Iowa home of the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers to open up conference play. Rain stayed away for the double header but the cloud cover and wind kept the temperatures down in the mid-40s. The Tigers (6-11, 0-4) were looking to pick up their first conference win.
Aleq McMullin got the start in game one (7inning). Coming off of a solid start in California, his new approach served him well and allowed him to go deeper in the game giving the Panthers a quality start. The Panthers scored first in the second inning.
Zach Grennie led off with a single and was moved to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by McMullin.
Sean Hannan singled and picked up the RBI. The Panthers added two more runs in the third to extend their lead to 3-0. Eddie Bargmann and
Stephen Strong both walked to lead off the third. Bargmann picked up his 8
th stolen base of the season and moved into scoring position.
Jake Kearney got the sacrifice fly scoring Bargmann. Grennie doubled to put runners at second and third.
Aleq McMullin was robbed of a double of his own on a diving catch by the left fielder down the third base line but it was enough to score Strong. Iowa Wesleyan responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the third. McMullin limited the damage but the Panther lead shrunk to one. In the bottom of the sixth a runner reached on an error eventually scoring to tie things up at three. The Panthers had their top of the order coming up in the seventh and took full advantage. Davidson singled, Bargmann reached on a hit by pitch and Strong, attempting to move the runners up, reached on an error allowing Davidson to score to take the lead. Kearney picked up his second sacrifice fly and scored
Ed Bargmann, giving the Panthers some insurance. With the two run lead, McMullin settled in and finished the game striking out two of the last three batters he faced.
Sean Hannan led the offensive charge for the Panthers with three hits and
Zach Grennie and
Ryan Eisenauer both had two.
Jake Kearney and several others hit the ball hard but right at the Tiger defense. McMullin threw a complete game recording 8 strikeouts giving up three runs only two of which were earned.
Junior
Alex Stamos received his 5th start of the year. The Panthers again struck first, this time in the third.
Ryan Eisenauer started things with a leadoff single followed up by a single by Davidson. Strong reached on an error. Kearney singled scoring two runs. McMullin and Hannan each singled to score two more runs before the final out was recorded. In the bottom half of the third, Iowa Wesleyan's head coach was ejected for arguing as Stamos struck out the side in order. The Panthers added two more in the top of the fourth as Davidson and Bargmann both singled. They stole to get themselves into scoring position and it paid off scoring both runs on a Strong single. During the inning, the Iowa Wesleyan pitcher was ejected which would lead to their second baseman being ejected as well. The Tiger's offense, sparked by the ejections, rallied for four runs, two of which were earned. In the past, an inning like this would snowball for the Panthers. Today, they kept their cool and were able to finish strong. Stamos bore down and finished with 7+ innings pitched. Hannan came in with runners on first and second and stranded them. He then struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his 4
th save in as many opportunities.
Offensively the Panthers tallied 13 hits led by Eddie Bargmann with three, Davidson, Grennie, and Hannan each had two. On the mound the Panthers picked up 14 strikeouts. Stamos had nine and of the 6 outs Hannan recorded, 5 of them came by strikeout.
He Said It:
"My approach was to keep the line moving and get it on to the next guy. I knew our pitching would be good today and we wouldn't need too much so I really worked on driving the ball the other way and getting it to the next guy."
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Ryan Eisenauer when asked about his day at the plate.
Up Next:
Principia College travels to Greenville for a three game series starting this Friday at 6pm followed by a double header on Saturday at 1 and 3pm.
