ST. CHARLES, MO. – The Quincy University baseball team faced Trevecca Nazarene in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Thursday (May 27) night and lost 8-3.
Jacob Kalusniak drew a walk in the first and Michael Nielsen singled, but both runners were stranded in the top of the first.
Hawks starter Riley Martin had a one-two-three bottom of the first with three pop outs. QU's Nolan Wosman reached on a hit by pitch to begin the second. Joe Roscetti singled through the right side, and Justin Eads delivered a RBI single to score Wosman and the Hawks led 1-0 after the second.
Martin set down the Trojan in order in the second inning behind two strikeouts to maintain the one run lead.
The Hawks did not reach base in the third, but the Trojans had their first baserunner in the bottom frame on a walk. Trevecca got a single afterwards, but both runners were stranded.
The Trojans' starting pitcher got three consecutive outs in the fourth inning to retire seven straight Hawks dating back to the end of the first inning. Fortunately, Martin cruised through the middle of the Trojans order in the fourth inning and had two strikeouts.
Quincy added a run in the fifth behind a two-out rally. Kalusniak reached on an error and then stole second base. Dayson Croes came through with a RBI single to give QU a 2-0 lead.
Martin struck out the side in the fifth inning to complete another scoreless inning of work, and his pitch count was at just 67 pitches through five.
The Hawk offense was held in check in the sixth. and in the bottom frame, Trevecca had a one-out, two-strike base hit which ignited a rally. A fielder's choice recorded the second out, but a throwing error to first base allowed the Trojans to score their first run and make the score 2-1. The Trojans then delivered a game-tying, two-out RBI single two batters later and the teams were deadlocked at 2-2 after six innings.
Trevecca's starter hit Gino D'Alessio and then walked Joe Roscetti to begin the seventh inning which forced a pitching change. Kalusniak delivered a clutch two-out go-ahead RBI single up the middle, and the Hawks took a 3-2 lead after the top half of the seventh.
The Trojans started a rally in the bottom of the seventh with two walks and an error. Trevecca followed with a ground ball to third, but another error was committed and two runs scored. TNU led 4-3. The Trojans followed with a two-RBI single up the middle to extend the advantage to 6-3 which forced Martin out of the game.
Jack Widhalm came in relief and struck out the first batter he faced, but the next batter had a RBI single to score the fifth run of the inning. The Trojans led 7-3. Kalusinak then caught a runner stealing to record the second out of the inning. A few pitches later, Widhalm appeared to be shaken up and had to be replaced by reliever Dalton Overstreet. TNU added another run on a RBI double to push their lead to 8-3. Overstreet recorded a strikeout to end the nightmare inning for the Hawks where Trevecca scored six runs on four hits.
The Hawks were not able to score in their final two at-bats and will have their season on the line tomorrow (May 28).
Next
The Hawks will play at 12:30 PM tomorrow against Illinois-Springfield. Quincy last played the Prairie Stars on May 8th and 9th to close the regular season and went 1-2 in the series at Springfield. The Hawks have lost four of the past five meetings against UIS which includes a 6-1 GLVC Tournament loss in 2019 which is the last time the two teams met in the postseason.
