Quincy, Ill. - The Quincy University baseball team celebrated senior day on a high note, outscoring the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars by two touchdowns and taking them out of contention for the conference tournament for the first time in nearly ten years. 

After a quick first half of the inning, the Hawks loaded up the bases quickly with back-to-back walks and a Joe Huffman single. Austin Simpson sent one deep into left field bringing in David Broughton and Dustin Dupont for the first two runs of the game. 

The Hawks gave up one to the Prairie Stars in the third after Kade Ruffner shut them down in the second. The Hawks propelled forward in the third, running through the whole lineup and scoring eight. Four Hawks got free passes to first base while Simpson and Jake Vitale hit singles to bring runners in. David Broughton claimed two bases on a two-run double, and Dustin Dupont pushed it to double digits with his dead-center home run that brought Broughton and Allison in. 

The Hawks got into a bit of trouble in the fifth, retiring Ruffner in his best outing with five strikeouts in four innings. Logan Mueller came in and gave up a run before Elijah Ecton closed out the fifth with the Hawks still on top. 

The Hawks ran through the lineup again in the fifth and sixth innings. The Hawks ran up seven more runs in the fifth, including back-to-back home runs from Jake Vitale and Adam Lewis. Dupont and Simpson each had singles while Broughton and Huffman sent the ball to the wall for doubles. 

Brock Boynton got his first hit of the game on a right field single to start the sixth inning. Dupont and Huffman each got on for Simpson to bring them home on a deep home run that hit the far side of the football field behind the right porch. 

Seth West completed the game on the mound, striking out one in the final inning of play at QU Stadium in 2024. All nine batters scored a run this morning with Dupont leading the team with four runs and Simpson leading in runs batted in with six. 

The Hawks recognized nine seniors this afternoon: Elijah Ecton, Adam Lewis, Dustin Dupont, Connor Simons, Brock Boynton, Austin Simpson, Kobe Essien, Aidan Clancy, and Atsushi Kataoka. 

With today's win and the sweep over UIS, the Hawks squeeze into the four-spot for the conference tournament. The GLVC tournament will begin on Wednesday in Marion, Illinois. The GLVC championship is slated for Saturday afternoon as to allow the winning team to get back for the NCAA show on Sunday.