QUINCY, Ill. - The Hawks resumed their GLVC play hosting the Hawks of Rockhurst University in game one of the four-game series on Friday (Mar. 22).
Griffin Kirn struck-out a career-high 15 batters, collecting all nine outs of the first three innings by himself as the Hawks held on for a narrow 10-9 victory.
Quincy entered the scoring column first in the bottom of the second frame, using a one-out big fly to right field off the bat of
Brock Boynton to jump ahead in the early going. Both batting orders remained quiet until RU got on the board in the top of the fourth on a solo shot to right center, acting as the only blemish on what was a masterful performance from the Hawks starter, Kirn and tying the ballgame at 1-1.
QU responded in the fifth, tacking on a five-spot to press the advantage to 6-1. The Hawks scored all five runs with two men down, plating a pair on a double from
David Broughton who was quickly chased home by another two-bagger from
Dustin Dupont.
Joe Huffman kept the line moving with a third-straight double to bring around Dupont tailed by a single from
Austin Simpson to plate the final run of the inning.
RU tallied another run in the seventh, using a pair of walks and a wild pitch to set up a RBI grounder to the right side to cut the deficit to 6-2. Quincy answered back with a four-run bottom half of the frame to bust the game open at 10-2. The first six hitters of the inning reached base for the Hawks as a double from
Jake Vitale and a walk put two men on for a RBI single from Dupont. Three more walks followed, two of them garnering RBI for Simpson and Boynton to make it 9-2 before a HBP for
Adam Lewis three batters later drove in the final run of the inning.
Rockhurst got things cooking in the next half inning, scoring six runs in the eighth to pull within a couple runs and make it a ballgame again in the late inning. A two-run homer, single, double, walk and another wild pitch brought home four runs before a rain delay ensued. The Hawks of RU kept it going after the break, using a sac fly and a pair of hits to tally two more runs and close the gap to 10-8.
Quincy loaded the bases in its half of the eighth, but couldn't make anything of it, giving way to
Roman Harrison to shut the door in the ninth. The lefty faced a little adversity in the top of the last, surrendering a pair of hits for another RU run to slim the margin to a single run before striking out the final hitter of the contest to collect save number four of the season and give his side a 10-9 winner in the series first contest.
Next Up
The Hawks are back in action again tomorrow (Mar. 23) for games two and three of the GLVC showdown. First pitch for game one of the two seven inning contests is slated for 12:00 PM.
