QUINCY, Ill. – The Hawks baseball team fell in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional to the University of Illinois Springfield.  The Hawks fell 11-7 to the Prairie Stars.  

 
Play by Play:
 

For the second straight day, senior shortstop Brynn Martinez lifted a leadoff home run to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

The Prairie Stars high powered offense lived up to the hype, scoring four runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-1 lead.  

In the top of the third, the Prairie Stars scored two more runs to push their lead to 6-2 over QU.  A bases-loaded double scored two runs for Illinois Springfield in the third.   

TJ Tamaccio led off the bottom of the third with a single to right field for QU. Brynn Martinez followed with a single down the right-field line, moving Tamaccio to third.  

Cody Birdsong followed with a walk to load the bases.  Troy Wehde followed with a strikeout, but the ball got away from the Prairie Stars catcher and allowed Tamaccio to score.  

JC DeMuri was hit by a pitch to load the bases again in the third inning.  The next two Hawks were retired and QU trailed 6-2 after three innings of play.     

A two-run home run by Michael Rothmund extended the Prairie Stars lead to 8-2 through four innings of action.  

The Hawks offense struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth.  

Brynn Martinez led off with his third hit of the game on a single up the middle. 

With one out in the inning, Troy Wehde drew a walk to put runners on first and second. 

JC DeMuri singled home Martinez to cut the lead to 8-3.  

Michael Nielsen followed with a single to load the bases.  

After a fly out, senior right fielder Matt Hilmes stepped to the plate. 

Hilmes delivered a three-RBI double to left field and cut the lead to 8-6 after five innings.  

A sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth pushed the Illinois Springfield lead to 9-6.  

Michael Rothmund lifted his second home run of the game to give the Prairie Stars an 11-6 lead in the top of the seventh.  

The Hawks got a run back in the bottom of the frame as Michael Nielsen doubled home Troy Wehde.  

QU was set down in the final two innings of the game and fell to the Prairie Stars 11-7.  

Stat Leaders for QU:
 

Brynn Martinez: 3-5, 1 HR, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

Troy Wehde: 2-4, 2 Runs

Michael Nielsen: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Matt Hilmes: 1-3, 1 2B, 3 RBI

 
Next up for the Hawks:

QU plays Bellarmine tomorrow at 11 a.m. in an elimination game. 

QU's Record:

QU is now 40-17 on the season.