SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Hawks hammered out 13 hits for 10 runs in a win in the second game of the day to avenge a 9-4 loss in the opening contest against Drury. QU led for over half of the losing effort but surrendered crooked numbers in the final two innings to drop the game before jumping out to a 3-0 advantage in game two and never looking back for a 10-2 victory to split the day.
Game One
Quincy got the scoring started in the top of the second with a pair of doubles, the first from
Cole Erickson and the second, yielding an RBI for
JD Ortiz to put his side ahead. QU added another in the fourth, again off the bat of Ortiz, this time a bases loaded single to left to make it 2-0.
The Panthers touched up
Kobe Essien for a run in the fourth with a solo shot to left to halve the deficit. Essien went on to strike out the side in the inning for seven total laid down on his own accord through four frames along with a 2-1 advantage.
A walk, a wild pitch and a single drew the ballgame to a tie in the bottom of the fifth until two batters later, DU felt the jolt of a three-run longball to push ahead 5-2.
A pair of walks from
Joe Huffman and
Austin Simpson put a pair on for a RBI double to center field from Erickson to slim the margin to one at 5-4 after the top of the sixth.
Drury used a pair of triples, a couple doubles and a base hit to erase the Hawk lineups response from the inning before and build a 9-4 advantage with just three outs to get. DU went on to take the game by the same score as the Hawks were unable to find a spark in the top of the seventh.
Game Two
All was quiet for the first two innings as the Hawks opened the scoring in the third on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly from
Dustin Dupont. Shortly after, Simpson left the yard to tack on another two runs and make it 3-0.
Quincy found the scoring column again in the fifth, this time getting all runs on longballs, the first a solo shot from Dupont and the second another blast from Simpson to pad the lead to 5-0.
Drury finally got to Hawks starter,
Tom Conzemius, in the bottom of the fifth as the seasoned QU veteran of five years was in search of his first career win. A single, stolen base and error led to the lone blemish on the day for Conzemius who would exit the game after five strong with a 5-1 edge.
The Panthers pushed across another in the sixth to narrow the margin to 5-2 before Quincy hung a five-spot in its final at-bat. Following a Broughton single, Dupont went deep for a second time to make it 7-2. A double three hitters later by
Brock Boynton scored another before Erickson took one over the center field wall for a couple more runs to conclude the inning at 10-2 QU.
Evan Margherita worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the last to close out a winner in game two.
Next Up
The Hawks look to salvage a split of the series tomorrow (Mar. 30) in the finale against the Panthers. First pitch is slated for 12:00 PM from Mark Worley Field at Meador Park in Springfield.
