QUINCY, Ill. - The Hawks overcame a six-run deficit in the second inning with 10 runs of their own in the final seven frames to take the series final and sweep the weekend over Southwest Baptist.
JD Ortiz turned in a three for four effort driving in half of the Quincy runs to propel QU to a 10-7 victory.
Southwest Baptist opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, using a single, sacrifice bunt and a pair of walks to set up an RBI sac fly to centerfield plating the first run.
Shortly after in the second frame, SBU added five more runs using a pair of hit-by-pitches and two base hits to push across another run before clearing the bases in the next at-bat with a grand slam to make it 6-0.
Logan Mueller came on in relief for Quincy in the third, laying down the side in order in the third and fourth to bring the QU lineup to the plate to score some runs in the home half of the fourth.
Austin Simpson led off the inning with a walk followed up by a single from
Dustin Dupont to put two men on for a one-out, three-run missile off the bat of Ortiz over the right field wall two hitters later to halve the deficit at 6-3 after four.
Another one-two-three inning for Mueller in the fifth brought the Hawks to the dish once more to plate more runs.
A single from
Adam Lewis tailed by a HBP and infield error loaded the bases for a two-run single back up the middle from Dupont to narrow the margin to 6-5. Following a fly out that advanced a runner to third, Ortiz poked a RBI single through the left side to even the tally at 6-6 after five.
Mueller retired SBU in order in the sixth to face the minimum of 12 hitters in his four innings of work before being relieved in the seventh. SBU added its final score of the contest in the seventh, using a single and a pair of walks to load the bases for a sacrifice fly to left field to regain the advantage 7-6.
Quincy scored its final four runs of the ballgame in the home half of the seventh. A pair of walks and a deep fly ball to left advanced both runners into scoring position for a run scoring single from
Joe Huffman to even the tally.
Ortiz added another run in the next AB with a single through the right side of the infield to put his side ahead before a
Cole Erickson two-run double found the Hawks ahead 10-7.
Ben Draeger retired the side in order in the eighth to bring on the Hawks closer,
Roman Harrison, for the ninth. Harrison struck out the first two hitters he faced before inducing a fly ball to right two batters later to close out a 10-7 win and collect his sixth save of the season.
Next Up
The Hawks have a quick turnaround, traveling to Missouri Western State for a single midweek contest on Tuesday (Apr. 23). First pitch for the game is slated for 2:00 PM from St. Joeseph, MO.
