SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Quincy University baseball team travelled to Drury University on Saturday (March 16). The Hawks won the first two games of the series 10-2 and 5-4. Head coach
Josh Rabe passed Pat Atwell for the most wins all-time in QU baseball history after the 10-2 win. Rabe now has 290 career wins.
Game 1
The Hawks wasted no time in getting the bats rolling on Saturday. Lead off man
Chandler Purcell set the tone with a home run to right field to start off the series.
In the second inning, Drury walked
Cole Evans and
TJ Tamaccio to begin the top of the frame. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Carter Naughton gave QU a 2-0 lead with a RBI groundout to score Evans.
Purcell kept the hot bat and doubled down the left field line to score Tamaccio. Quincy led 3-0.
Nolan Snyder followed Purcell with another double to plate another run and give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.
Lance Logsdon capped off the scoring with a single up the middle which allowed Snyder to come home. Quincy held a 5-0 lead after two innings.
That score stood until the sixth inning. Starting pitcher,
Riley Martin, tossed five scoreless innings to keep the Hawks in control.
QU added two more runs in the top of the 6th after RBI doubles by
Cody Birdsong and
Michael Nielsen. This brought the score to 7-0.
The Panthers finally broke through in the bottom of the 6th. Drury scored on a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch to make the score 7-2 QU.
In the top of the 8th,
Cole Evans blasted his first home run of the season to give Quincy an 8-2 lead. In the next inning, the Hawks added to their lead.
Cody Birdsong got on with a single up the middle with two outs.
Michael Nielsen allowed Birdsong to cruise around the bases and score after a two-out double to right center. The lead was upped to 9-2.
The Hawks added one last run in the top of the 9th.
Carter Naughton scored
Cole Evans on a sacrifice fly to make the score 10-2.
Hunter Keim ended the game by striking out three Drury batters in the bottom of the 9th.
With the game one victory, head coach
Josh Rabe became Quincy University's all-time wins leader with 289 career wins. Rabe is in his ninth season as head coach of the Hawks baseball program.
Game 2
Once again the Hawks imposed their will first. QU scored three runs on a play that had two Drury errors to give the Hawks an early 3-0 lead and all the momentum.
Quincy was able to stay in the driver's seat behind solid pitching. Head Coach
Josh Rabe gave the game two nod to
John Hurayt who had previously been a go-to bullpen arm.
Huaryt let the defense work behind him and remained hitless through five innings.
The Quincy bats plated another run in the 3rd after a single up the middle by catcher
Jacob Kalusniak. This pushed their lead to 4-0.
The Hawks held that lead until the 7th inning.
Cody Birdsong sent a solo shot over the fence to give QU a 5-0 lead and later proved to be the difference.
Drury did not go down quietly in game two. Hurayt left the game with one out in the 7th inning. The Panthers plated two runs on an RBI single with two runners on. The score sat at 5-2 going to the 8th.
In the next inning, the Panthers nearly closed the gap. One run was walked in and another run came with a bases loaded fielder's choice. Drury now trailed 5-4.
The 9th inning proved uneventful for QU as a fly out and ground ball double play sent the game to the final at bat for Drury.
Jeff Hightower, who came in and recorded the final out in the 8th inning, was sent out in the 9th to get the final three outs. Hightower downed the Panthers in order to give the Hawks the 5-4 win.
Game 1 Stat Leaders
Cody Birdsong - 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2R
Chandler Purcell - 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 3R
Riley Martin - 6 IP, 2 ER, 2H, 2K
Game 2 Stat Leaders
Cole Evans - 3-3, Run scored
Lance Logsdon - 1-3, 2 runs scored
John Hurayt - 6.1 IP, 2 R, 3H, 6 K, 3 BB
Record
13-3, 5-0 GLVC
The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow at noon to finish their series with Drury.
