TAMPA, Fla. – The Hawks were back in action against the #1 team in the country in University of Tampa on Saturday (Feb. 15). A mix of great pitching and timely hitting propelled the Hawks to a 9-2 upset victory over the Spartans on their home turf.
 
The Spartans jumped on the board in the first inning for the second straight game after the leadoff man reached on an error, stole a couple of bags, and scored on a groundball. With two outs, Tampa would double its lead with a home run to right field.
 
Quincy quickly answered in the top half of the second with a big two-out, two-run single from David Broughton that split the left-center gap. The Hawks then took the lead with aggressive baserunning with runners at the corners. Broughton took off for second on the pitch, and Ben Dahlof stole home as soon as the Spartans catcher snapped the baseball down to second base.
 
Hawks starter Kobe Essien settled in after surrendering two runs in the first. Essien tossed three scoreless frames to wrap up his day with 75 pitches on four innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits, walking one, and striking out one.
 
QU added one in the top of the fifth after another two out knock from the Hawks. A seeing-eye single up the middle from Byron Blaise scored Matt Mateo easily from second base to make it a 4-2 Hawks lead. Moving to the bottom half of the fifth, Quincy sent Roman Harrison out to relief Essien. Harrison found himself with the bases loaded and two outs, but a big breaking ball in a lefty-lefty matchup left all three runners stranded in the fifth.
 
Carson Moreno got things started with a bang in the sixth inning with a big fly down the left-field line for his first home run of the 2025 season. A walk and an error on a pickoff attempt would set the Hawks up with another scoring opportunity. With a man on third and one out, Broughton poked one out to left field for his third hit and third RBI of the game. A pair of walks loaded up the bases, and the Hawks received a gift with a wild pitch to make it 7-2.
 
Quincy's sixth inning was not finished quite yet. A high pop-up in shallow right field from Blaise was not deep enough for the runner to tag at third base, but a slight bluff from Mateo at third base forced the Spartan's second baseman to fire a throw home that skipped away from the catcher, capping off the Hawks four-run sixth inning. Harrison trotted out for another inning of work and got things done quickly, striking out the side to keep the score at 8-2.
 
Harrison, in his third inning of work, found himself in trouble once again in the bottom of the seventh. A pair of walks and a double steal set up the Spartans nicely, with runners at second and third and one out. But for the second time in the game, Harrison worked out of the jam with no harm, striking out back-to-back batters.
 
Quincy had the first two men reach in the top of the eighth via hit by pitch, but the Hawks were unable to tack on insurance, setting up David Kelliher for the home half. Kelliher worked around a pair of singles, earned a couple of strikeouts to set up the ninth inning.
 
The Hawks found themselves with another insurance run after an error on the Tampa pitcher scored the Hawks ninth run of the ballgame. With a 9-2 lead, Kelliher once again worked around a few baserunners, securing an upset victory for the Hawks.
 
As a team, Quincy outhit the Spartans 9-6 and took advantage of the four errors and 12 free passes from the Tampa pitching staff. The Hawks staff did their job as well, striking out 11 and only walking six. Harrison earned the win for his first of the 2025 season in a bounce-back performance.
 
QU will be back in action for the rubber match against #1 University of Tampa tomorrow morning, with the first pitch scheduled for 11:00 AM EST.