NCAA-II Midwest Regional Website

ST. CHARLES - Drury picked up where it left off last weekend in its surge of knocking off higher-rated teams, as the fifth-seeded Panthers used seven strong innings from senior pitcher Trevor Richards and a small-ball offense to beat second-seed Grand Valley State 9-4 in the opener of the NCAA-II Midwest Regional at the Lou Brock Complex Thursday afternoon.

In winning its fifth straight post-season game against a higher-seeded team - the then-seventh seed Panthers defeated seeds 1, 2, 3 and 5 last weekend to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship - coach Scott Nasby's squad improved to 32-22-1 with its 15th win in its last 17 games.

Grand Valley State, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) post-season tourney champion and ranked No. 14 nationally, fell to 34-17 in losing for just the fourth time in its last 18 games.
 

And just like last week, the winning formula for Drury started the same way - ride the strong pitching performance of a senior to an opening victory.

Richards (5-3) silenced a Lakers team that had scored 18 and 15 runs in its last two games of the GLIAC Tournament, holding GVSU to just one hit and an unearned run over the first seven innings. The Lakers didn't manage a hit til a one-out single in the fifth.

Grand Valley State chased Richards in the eighth with three runs, but not until the Drury offense had built the senior an 8-1 lead.

Closer Gage Jacobs came on and worked out of a jam to end the 8th, inducing a double-play grounder to end a bases-loaded situation that had the tying run at the plate.

The Panthers added another run in the ninth for good measure to move into Friday's winner's bracket second round, where they'll face fourth-seed Truman State (32-20) at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated third-seed William Jewell 6-0 Thursday night in the opening round.

"Winning the first one is something we have never done," said Nasby, referring to Drury's three previous NCAA tourney trips that started with losses. "This gives us great confidence. Richards was again lights out, and he controlled the entire game.

"Scoring every other inning proved big for us, and those ones and twos (run innings) we cracked in the middle of the game was the difference."

Drury had out-hit the Lakers 14-1 at one point before GVSU had five hits in the eighth to finish at a 14-7 final disadvantage, with no extra-base hits.

The Panthers scored two in the second to get things going on a Mike Rafter RBI single and a run-scoring groundout from Spencer Wilmes, but Grand Valley State countered with an unearned run in the bottom of the frame to make it 2-1.

But then Drury scored one in the fourth on a Wilmes RBI double, one in the sixth on Ryan Colombo's RBI single, and then two big ones in both the seventh and eighth innings, with runs driven in by Luke Tewes, Conner Wilson, Bobby Lang and the final run in the eighth when freshman Ryan Wadkins stole second base, third base and then home, to push his season total to a team-leading 18 steals.

DU's run in the ninth came courtesy of a Wilmes sacrifice fly.

Rafter had three hits for the Panthers, while Dallas Williams, Tewes and Colombo added two each. Wilmes drove home three and Tyler Arthur scored three times to pace the DU attack.

DRURY NOTES

*Drury and Truman State will be meeting for the fifth time this season, after the Panthers and Bulldogs split their four-game series at Meador Park on April 10-11. Truman defeated DU 6-2 in the seven-inning game started by Friday's probable starter, Austin Faulconer, who pitched 11 scoreless innings in the GLVC tourney last weekend in Westfield, Ind.

*The Panthers lead the all-time series with Truman 15-4. The Bulldogs were DU's very first D-II opponent when they came to Meador Park to kick off the inaugural season in 2007, with Drury taking that doubleheader by 10-0 and 12-7 scores.

*Drury is now 11-5 in post-season games in three seasons under Coach Scott Nasby, including a 4-4 mark in NCAA-II tourney contests. Nasby is 115-52-1 overall as the Panthers' head coach.

*Senior first baseman Luke Tewes, who leads the Panthers with a .396 average, 11 homers and 46 RBIs, picked up two more honors on Thursday when he was named to the ABCA All-Midwest Region team and also as a Gold Glove recipient in the region for his work at first base. Senior catcher Tyler Arthur and senior outfielder Dallas Williams were named to the ABCA All-Midwest Region Second Team.

*The Panthers were batting .286 and had a .4.82 team earned run average after their loss at Quincy in the opener of a Sunday doubleheader on April 19 left them with a 17-20-1 record. Drury is now batting .303 and has a 4.52 ERA on the season, those numbers boosted by wins in 15 of their last 17 games, including six straight wins entering tonight's matchup with Truman.

*Freshman leadoff hitter Ryan Wadkins was batting .219 at the conclusion of the Quincy series (April 18-19). He's batted .377 since (23 of 61) with 15 runs, 10 RBIs and eight stolen bases, including a career-high three swipes in Thursday's win over Grand Valley State, when he stole second, third and home in the same at-bat. He has hits in 15 of his last 16 games.

*Senior outfielder Dallas Williams has multi-hit efforts in eight of his last 10 games, pushing his batting average from .354 to .383.

*Freshman infielder Mike Rafter is 6 for his last 12 at the plate, including his first collegiate three-hit effort in Thursday's win over Grand Valley State.

*Drury now has won its last seven athletic events in St. Charles, factoring in the 3-0 weekends each by the DU men's and women's basketball tournaments to win the GLVC Championships at Family Arena in mid-March.