snyder
Brad Loper
10
Winner Colorado Mesa CMU 49-10
3
Quincy QU 37-22
Winner
Colorado Mesa CMU
49-10
10
Final
3
Quincy QU
37-22
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colorado Mesa CMU 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 3 0 10 8 0
Quincy QU 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 7 3

W: Tyler Day (6-2) L: Haynes, Hunter (9-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Brendan Bittner

Hawks Falter In Seventh As Mavericks Win World Series Opener

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The 14th-ranked Quincy University baseball team took a brief lead in the sixth inning, but the Hawks' defense and pitching unraveled in the seventh as No. 2 Colorado Mesa scored five times on no hits to take a 7-3 lead and would go on to win, 10-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships on Sunday (May 28) night at The Ballpark in Grand Prairie.
 
The Hawks (37-22) will now play UC-San Diego on Tuesday (May 30) at 3 p.m. in an elimination game. UCSD lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 6-5, in 12 innings in Sunday's opener.
 
Head coach Josh Rabe turned to ace senior right-hander Graham Spraker (Tucson, Ariz.) to start the Hawks' first Division II World Series game in program history.
 
Spraker did not disappoint. He was sharp from the start, giving up just two singles and striking out three in the first three innings.
 
Meanwhile, the Hawks offense was not able to touch Colorado Mesa starter Kyle Leahy in the early-going as he retired the first 10 batters he faced.
 
Spraker ran into his first real trouble in the fourth. Kyle Serrano reached on an error by shortstop Brynn Martinez (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) to start the inning, but Spraker got the next two batters and looked like he would get out with no damage. But Serrano stole second and scored on an RBI single by Andrew Contreras. After a hit-by-pitch, Zach McLeod followed with an RBI hit to give the Mavericks (49-10) a 2-0 lead.
 
Quincy finally got to Leahy in the fourth as senior Jake Walters (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior J.C. DeMuri (Manchester, Mo.) each doubled to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
 
Spraker gave up a couple of walks in the fifth, but escaped the jam and retired the Mavericks in order in the top of the sixth to keep it a one-run game.
 
The Hawks took the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Walters drew a full-count walk and DeMuri was hit in the back with a pitch. Two batters later, sophomore Nolan Snyder (St. Louis, Mo.) smoked a two-out, two-run double to the opposite-field gap that scored both runners and gave Quincy a 3-2 lead.   
 
Rabe went to the bullpen in the seventh as senior lefty Hunter Haynes (Mexico, Mo.) entered with a 1.04 ERA over nine appearances since moving to the pen in mid-April.
 
The Mavericks drew two walks and put runners on the corners with one out after a stolen base. Serrano reached a squeeze play to tie the game at 3. Both runners moved up on stolen bases and a wild pitch brought in the go-ahead run. A walk put runners on the corners, but an RBI groundout made it 5-3 after freshman Alex Pribyl (Anoka, Minn.) came on. The Mavericks would eventually score five runs on four walks, two errors and four wild pitches in the inning to take a 7-3 lead.
 
Spraker did not factor in the decision, but did not allow an earned run over six innings. He walked two and struck out six. Haynes (9-2) was charged with the loss in relief.

Leahy also did not get a decision, giving up three runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Reliever Tyler Day (6-2) also struck out seven and gave up four hits in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
 
DeMuri reached base three times, going 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, an RBI and a run scored. The Hawks struck out 14 times on the night.
 
QU
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