Box Score Tampa, Fla. – The Hawks traveled down to the Sunshine State to take on the No. 1 team in the country, the Tampa University Spartans. The Quincy offense was held in check throughout the game, and the Spartans scattered offense through all nine innings to take down the Hawks 8-0.
 
Tampa got their offense going quickly in the home half of the first. With two outs, the Spartans third baseman sliced a line drive down the right field line that was out of the diving reach of Hawks right fielder Matt Mateo. The ball trickled all the way to the wall, allowing all three runs to come around to score, and a misjudgment from the Quincy defense allowed the batter to circle the bases and make it 4-0 after one.
 
Hawks starter Kade Ruffner settled in after the first inning, throwing four innings of one-run ball to salvage his outing. Ruffner surrendered five runs on four hits while walking five and striking out three. The Spartans starter kept the Quincy offense off-balance with a multitude of pitches and completed six innings of scoreless baseball on 91 pitches.
 
Tim Reinholz was the first man out of the bullpen for the Hawks, making his first appearance of the 2025 season. Reinholz retired the Spartans in order in the bottom of the sixth inning, which earned him another inning. In the seventh, the Spartans tacked on an insurance run with an RBI double making it 6-0.
 
The Spartans added a pair in the bottom of the eighth, as the Hawks went down quietly in the top half of the ninth to wrap up game one of the series.
 
The hits were even at seven a side, but the nine walks from the Hawks pitching staff were taken advantage of by the Tampa lineup. Quincy was unable to get the timely hit to get the offense rolling, leaving eight runners on base.
 
Quincy will be back in action for game two against Tampa on Saturday (Feb. 15), with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 PM EST.