QUINCY, Ill. – The Hawks battled against the 18th-ranked Panthers of Davenport University on Monday afternoon (Mar. 17). Quincy's pitching and defense struggled to come together for both games, and they lost both to the Panthers, falling 18-7 and 9-7.
GAME ONE
The Davenport offense quickly jumped on the Hawks's pitching staff with three runs in the top of the first. A run scored off of an error, and a pair of RBI singles from the heart of the Panthers order made it 3-0 before Quincy got to the bat rack.
David Broughton drove in the first run for the Hawks in the home half with an RBI single to right center, making it 3-1 after one inning of play.
The Panthers scored another three runs in the second inning, this time with a few big swings. A pair of home runs in the inning extended the Davenport lead to 6-1. The Hawks cut into the lead that same inning, scoring on an error from the Panthers shortstop.
DU got a gift from the Hawks's defense in the fourth inning, scoring two runs on a wild pickoff throw that sailed past the first baseman and trickled down the right-field line.
Quincy had one hit through five innings off the Panthers starter, struggling to get the offense going, but it clicked in the sixth inning. The Hawks stormed back into the game, scoring four runs on six hits. RBI hits from
Matt Mateo,
Joe Huffman, and
Byron Blaise cut the deficit to two runs after six innings of play.
Davenport answered with its third home run of the game, a towering solo shot to left field. Quincy answered in the home half with one of their own, courtesy of another RBI double from Mateo.
The two-run deficit from the Hawks soon became 11 after Davenport put up a nine spot in the top of the eighth. The inning consisted of three pitchers from the Hawks, who combined to give up five hits, six walks, and one hit by pitch. QU went down quietly in the bottom half, wrapping up the game in eight innings after the run rule came into play.
GAME TWO
Game two once again began with scoring in the first inning, this time, with the Hawks finding the run column first. A two-run double for the Hawks RBI leader
Joe Huffman gave QU a 2-0 lead after one.
The lead doubled for Quincy in the second after a single to no man's land in right field from
Ben Dahlof to go along with aggressive baserunning in a first and third situation, which saw the score at 4-0 in favor of the Hawks after two innings.
In the third inning, the pitching and defense began to collapse for the Hawks in game two. Davenport jumped on the board, scoring on a passed ball. Fast forward to the fifth, the Panthers tied the game up at four after scoring three runs on a passed ball, an error, and a wild pitch.
In the sixth inning, Mateo regained the lead for the Hawks after a no-doubt home run to right center field. It was his fourth home run of the season and 20th run driven in.
However, Quincy continued to gift the Panthers runs. Two runs came into score via a throwing error on a play at the plate to give Davenport the lead 6-5 in the eighth. Another run scored in the same inning after another throwing error on a pickoff attempt.
Trailing 7-5, Broughton made it a one-run game with a solo homer to left field, his fourth on the season, and his 23rd RBI.
In the final inning, DU added two more insurance runs after an RBI single and a run on a wild pitch. Quincy scored a run to make it a two-run game in the bottom half and even brought the tying run to the plate but came up short, losing 9-7.
The Hawks will have three days to regroup before they take the field in Kansas City, Missouri, opening a four-game series against the Hawks of Rockhurst University on Friday (Mar. 17). First pitch from Loyola Park Baseball Field is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
