Quincy, Ill. – Hitting the road for the first time in a month, the Quincy University baseball team will head to the University of Illinois – Springfield (20-6, 10-2 GLVC) for a four game series this weekend. Coming off of a 15-game home stand, where they went 14-1 against Northwood, Augustana (SD), Missouri S&T and Truman State.
The Hawks now sit 7th in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Top 25 Poll. That is one spot up from last week after the Hawks (18-4, 7-1 GLVC) swept Truman State in a four-game conference series.
Weekend Schedule
Due to the impending weather forecasted for the area on Friday, the Hawks and Prairie Stars will now play doubleheaders on Saturday (4/1) and Sunday (4/2) starting at 12:00 p.m.
Scouting the Hawks
The Hawks offense has put up some impressive numbers so far this season. They sit atop of the GLVC in batting average (.335), home runs (54), scoring (8.9), and slugging percentage (.621). The home runs and slugging percentage also sit in the top 5 in the country.
Individually, Luke Napleton (13), Nolan Wosman (9) and Austin Simpson (8), sit in the top 3 in the GLVC for home runs. Napleton also leads the conference in RBIs (33), total bases (76), slugging percentage (.874). His 13 home runs also sits 2nd in the country.
The program leader in doubles (50), home runs (39), RBIs (178), Lance Logsdon also sits top 5 in Division II for career active numbers.
The pitching staff, led by Spencer Walker has a team ERA of 6.33, which currently sits 6th in the GLVC. Walker on the year is 4-1 with a 4.85 ERA in 29.2 innings, giving up 20 runs, 16 of those have been earned. The Peoria, Illinois native has struck out 25 hitters, while only allowing 8 walks.
Scouting the Prairie Stars
The Illinois – Springfield Prairie Stars are coming off of a sweep against the University of Indianapolis. They moved up 2 spots in the latest NCBWA poll to 21st.
The UIS offense is averaging 7.4 runs per game and sits in the middle of the conference. They are second in the GLVC with 33 home runs, which is 19 less than the Hawks. UIS puts together good at-bats as they are 2nd in conference with 242 hits on the season.
Individually, Asher Bradd leads the Prairie Stars with a .462 batting average. He also holds the team lead with doubles (12) and hits (48).
UIS's pitching staff leads the conference in ERA with 3.59. They also hold the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the league at 12.2.
Adam Brouwer (2.33), Chad Saner (2.55) and Ryan Carmack (2.73) all sit in the top 5 for ERA in the GLVC.
