QUINCY, Ill. – The 8th ranked Quincy University baseball team won its 10th consecutive series behind a complete game shut out from Nick Stroud on Saturday (April 20th). The Hawks won 4-0 in the series finale with Bellarmine University. 

Play by Play
The final game of the three-game series started off in the Hawks favor. Starting pitcher, Nick Stroud, started the game with a 1-2-3 inning bringing the Hawks up to bat. 

Quincy used a lead-off single by Chandler Purcell and an RBI single later in the inning by Jeff Hightower to take an early 1-0 lead. 

In the top of the 2nd inning, Stroud worked around a lead-off double to keep the Knights off the board and keep QU in front. 

The Hawk offense added another run in the bottom of the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Michael Nielsen. Nielsen drove in Birdsong who singled earlier in the inning. The Hawks held a 2-0 lead after three innings of play. 

Stroud worked scoreless frames in the 3rd and 4th innings to keep the momentum on the Hawks' side. The bats were unable to get anything going in the bottom half as the score remained 2-0 after four. 

In the top of the 5th, the veteran from Dalton City tossed another quick inning. Jacob Kalusniak threw out a runner at second base for the third out bringing the QU offense back to the plate. 

The Hawks threatened in the home half of the fifth with runners on first and third. Jacob Kalusniak looked to drive in a run, but his liner was caught by Bellarmine's second basemen for the third out. Hawks led 2-0 going to the 6th. 

In the bottom of the 6th, TJ Tamaccio led off with a single. Nolan Snyder continued his hot hitting with a home run to right center. The Hawks led 4-0 after Snyder's third homer of the season. 

Nick Stroud once again made quick work of the Knights in the 7th inning. The right-hander recorded the first out with a ground ball to the shortstop. The next batter struck out swinging, but the ball got past Kalusniak. With a runner on first, Stroud fanned the next two batters to end the inning and keep the shut out intact. 

The Hawks' right-hander walked the lead-off batter in the 8th inning. The next batter struck out swinging for the first out. In the next at-bat, Bellarmine advanced the runner with a sacrifice bunt. The runner advanced from second to third base after a wild pitch. 

With Bellarmine 90 feet from scoring their first run, Stroud locked in and collected his 16th strike out of the game to end the inning. 

The Hawks were not able to get anything going in the bottom half as Stroud took the mound for the 9th inning. 

Despite starting the inning over 100 pitches, Stroud managed to strike out two more batters in the 9th on his way to 18 strike outs in a complete game shut out. Eighteen strike outs marked a career high for Stroud.

Stat Leaders
Jeff Hightower - 3-4, RBI
Nolan Snyder - 1-3, HR (3), 2 RBI

Nick Stroud - 9 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 18 K, 2 BB

The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday (April 24th) to face Maryville at QU Stadium. Game one of the doubleheader is set for 1:00 p.m.