Box Score QUINCY, Ill. - After an undesirable month of February the Hawks finally got to taste some home cooking as they hosted the Panthers of Davenport University for game one of a four-game set at QU Stadium on Friday (Mar. 1). Quincy used strong performances on both sides of the ball en route to a 5-1 victory, getting six and a third of five-hit, no run ball featuring 11 punch-outs from starter, Griffin Kirn, along with a pair of solo shots for Austin Simpson. 

After a scoreless first inning of work for Kirn that featured two strikeouts, QU put some runs on the board in it's first home at-bat of the year. Brock Boynton ripped a one-out single to right before advancing shortly after on a wild pitch. A two-out walk from Simpson put two men on before a throwing error advanced Boynton to put men at the corners. Back-to-back RBI singles from JD Ortiz and Joe Huffman brought around Boynton and Simpson to make it 2-0 Quincy after the first inning. 

A 1-2-3 inning from Kirn in the next half inning brought the Hawks to the plate again in the second. Quincy wasted no time in adding to the tally, getting a lead-off double from Adam Lewis followed by a grounder to the right side from Connor Simons to move Lewis to third. A passed ball in the next at-bat brought Lewis the final 90 feet to put QU ahead 3-0. 

Another solid inning from Kirn featuring a 1-3 putout, strikeout, walk and fly-out to center brought the Hawks to the plate to do some damage once more. Simpson led off the third inning with an opposite field blast off the top of the left field wall for his first of the contest to push the advantage further to 4-0. 

All was quiet for the next few innings until DU threatened in the top of the seventh. A lead-off double along with a walk put a pair of runners on until Kirn made his final mark on the game with his 11th strikeout before being relieved by Logan Mueller. Mueller cleaned up the situation in short order, retiring one in the air and one on the ground to get out of the inning unscathed. 

Simpson got hold of his second with two down in the Hawk half of the seventh, powering a long shot over the right field wall to supplement the lead with another run and make it 5-0 after seven innings of play. 

The Panthers got on the board for the first time in the top of the eighth inning, plating a run on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch before Roman Harrison came on in relief to defuse the situation with a big strikeout. 

Harrison worked another scoreless frame in the top of the ninth to seal a 5-1 winner for the Hawks. 


Next Up

The Hawks are back at it again tomorrow (Mar. 2) for a twin-bill of seven inning contests against the Panthers. First pitch for game one is slated for 12:00 PM from historic QU Stadium with game two to follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.