LIBERTY, MO. – The Quincy University softball team fell short 4-3 in both games of a doubleheader at William Jewell on Saturday (April 24) afternoon.
Game 1
Taylor Downen hit a home run to left field to put the Hawks on the board in the top of the first and QU led 1-0. The Cardinals notched a RBI double and sacrifice fly to notch two unearned runs in the bottom of the first and Jewell led 2-1.
Courtney Kernich singled down the first base line in the fourth to score Bailey Mitchell and the Hawks tied the game at 4-4 after four innings. In the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinals struck a home run to right field and took a 3-2 lead. Starter Mac Kenzie Collier was pulled after six innings of work, but only allowed one earned run after QU committed two errors behind her in the field.
Quincy tied the score at 3-3 in the seventh after Casey Brennan singled to score Ashley Gerber. Jewell walked it off in the bottom of the eighth on a single up the middle to win 4-3.
The Hawks out hit Jewell 8-5 in game one, but stranded seven runners on base.
Game 2
The Hawks blasted another first inning home run in game two as Ashley Gerber left the yard while Mitchell was on base and QU led 2-0 after the first. Jewell was quiet until they tagged the Hawks in the fourth inning. A throwing error, double, and fielder's choice brought three runs home for the Cardinals and WJC led 3-2 after the fourth.
This forced QU starter Bailee Highbarger out of the game, as she finished with four innings pitched while allowing three earned runs.
Audrey Hermann hit a single to left field to drive in Kernich to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh. In the bottom frame the Cardinals had another walk off base hit and scored an unearned run to win the game. Jennings tossed 2.1 innings of relief but did not surrender an earned run while being credited with the loss.
Game 1 Stat Lines
Casey Brennan 2-3, 1RBI
Taylor Downen 2-4 (HR), 1RBI
Mac Kenzie Collier 6.0 IP, 1ER, 4 SO
Game 2 Stat Lines
Ashley Gerber 1-3 (HR), 1R, 1RBI
Next
The Hawks will face Rockhurst tomorrow (April 25) at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM before returning home for senior weekend against Southwest Baptist (May 1) and Drury (May 2) to finish the regular season.
GLVC Tournament Watch
Quincy is currently in 10th place in the GLVC standings with six games remaining on the schedule with a GLVC record of 9-12 (.429). The top eight teams clinch berths to the GLVC postseason tournament, and the eighth place team is currently UMSL with an 11-12 record which means QU is two games out of a playoff spot. QU has not made the GLVC tournament since the 2013 season when they finished with a 17-19 record in league play.
The final three teams the Hawks will play are Rockhurst, Southwest Baptist and Drury. Rockhurst is currently sixth (13-9 GLVC), Southwest Baptist is currently 15th (1-20 GLVC), and Drury is third (15-6) in the GLVC standings.
Southern Indiana and Quincy hold the No.9 and No.10 positions in the standings each with nine wins battling for a top eight spot. UMSL and Lewis each have 11 wins in the seventh and eighth positions in the standings.
