QUINCY, Ill. – The Hawks baseball team defeated fellow GLVC school, Bellarmine University, in an elimination game in the NCAA Midwest Regional.  

The Hawks defeated the Knights 9-3 on Saturday (May 19). 

 
Play by Play:
 

Brynn Martinez continued to be the table setter for QU, leading off the bottom of the first inning with a single.  

 

Martinez scored three batters later as JC DeMuri singled to right center to put the Hawks up 1-0.  

 

Senior catcher Jake Viaene blasted a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the second inning. 

 

This gave Hawks starter Aaron Stone a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the third.  

 

Stone held the Knights offense at bay with three scoreless frames to start the game.  

 

Cody Birdsong led off the bottom of the third inning with a double to right center field. A groundout by Troy Wehde advanced Birdsong to third. 

 

With one out, JC DeMuri brought home Birdsong with a sacrifice fly and the Hawks extended their lead to 3-0.  

 

Michael Nielsen followed with a single and Chandler Purcell walked to put runners on first and second for QU.  

 

Matt Hilmes singled to score Nielsen and give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.  

 

Jake Viaene delivered for the second time, this time with a two-RBI double to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead.  

 

TJ Tamaccio singled to score Viaene and the Hawks led 7-0 through three innings of play.  

 

Brynn Martinez doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored on a single by Cody Birdsong to give the Hawks an 8-0 lead.  

 

Aaron Stone surrendered just his second hit of the game on a solo home run as the Knights cut the lead to 8-1.  

 

Senior shortstop Brynn Martinez tripled with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning for his third hit of the game.  

 

With the triple, Martinez became the all-time hits leader, passing his former teammate Dominic Miles.  Martinez now has 273 hits in his QU career.  

 

Martinez scored on a Troy Wehde RBI double and the Hawks led 9-1 through the seventh inning. 

 

Stone worked a scoreless eighth and looked to finish the game heading into the ninth inning. 

 

Stone retired the first batter of the inning before allowing three straight baserunners. 

 

Brendan Saak relieved Stone and recorded the final two outs as the Hawks eliminated the Hawks by a final score of 9-3.  

 

                                                                                                         
Stat Leaders for QU:

 

Brynn Martinez: 3-5, 1 3B, 1 2B, 3 Runs

Cody Birdsong: 3-5, 1 Run

Jake Viaene: 2-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs

JC DeMuri: 2-4, 2 RBI

 
Next up for the Hawks:

 

QU plays the winner of Ashland and Ohio Dominican tomorrow at 12 p.m. in an elimination game.  

QU's Record:

QU is now 41-17 on the season. 

 

Notes:

 

Brynn Martinez passed Dominic Miles to become the all-time hits leader just one season after Miles surpassed Mitch Broughton for the hits record.  

 

The Hawks 41 wins are the most since 2000 when QU won 42 games, which was the second most in program history.