CHICAGO – Roosevelt qualified for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament despite dropping the final game of the regular season 5-4 against No. 20 Davenport on Sunday at Saint Xavier.

The Lakers (15-34, 5-19 GLIAC) needed either a win Sunday or a Purdue Northwest loss to secure the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. The two contests went back-and-forth simultaneously with the Pride losing just minutes before the Lakers' last hopes were extinguished against the Panthers.

Roosevelt had the better opportunities to score in the first three innings, notably in an unusual second inning that featured several tricky plays. Sebastian Casillas began the bottom of the frame with an infield single just over the pitcher's mound that the second baseman could not field in time. It looked like the sophomore stole second base on a swinging strike, but he was sent back to first base as Kyle Jannenga was called out for interference.

Casillas would move up to second base on a slow groundout from Jack Hoh, putting himself in scoring position for Quinn O'Bryan. The Lakers shortstop perfectly fit his line-drive single between the shortstop and third baseman and Casillas wheeled around third base to score. However, Davenport appealed the play and said Casillas did not touch third base, resulting in an inning-ending out instead.

Jake Glickman cruised through those three innings by retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced, but trouble found him in the fourth. He managed to limit the damage to just two runs with three straight outs, including an inning-ending strikeout, his third of the contest.

O'Bryan started the Roosevelt rally in the fifth inning with a two-out single into center field. Harrison Kowalski drew an easy walk and James Berry made the Panthers pay with a rocket off the fence in right centerfield. Berry hustled around the bases for a triple to tie the game with one swing, then Kekoa Ogawa launched a double into the gap in left centerfield to give Roosevelt a 3-2 lead.

The Panthers responded with three runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning against Glickman, who pitched 5.1 innings and allowed seven hits and five runs, four of which were earned. Kevin Schoer came on in relief and recorded eight outs without giving up a hit before A.J. Gliwa pitched the ninth inning and stranded two runners at second and third.

Roosevelt cut the deficit to 5-4 in the eighth after both Ogawa and Luke Ulbert were hit by pitches to start the frame. Jack Kieffer laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position and Casillas delivered an RBI groundout. Jannenga nearly tied the game with a hot-shot grounder down the left-field line, but the Panthers third baseman fielded it cleanly and a pick at first base barely beat Jannenga to the bag.

O'Bryan and Kowalski both had two hits for the Lakers at the bottom of the lineup to lead the offense. Roosevelt and Davenport both finished with eight hits in the game, and both pitching staffs issues a single walk each.

UP NEXT: The Lakers and Panthers will face off yet again Thursday at Jackson Field in Lansing, Mich. in the second game of the opening day of the GLIAC Tournament at 2 p.m.