QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University softball team were bested by the Cardinals of William Jewell College on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 22). Despite some better bats from the Hawks in game two, Quincy was shut out in game one 9-0 and fell 12-4 in the back half of the doubleheader. 

Game One
William Jewell stacked four runs on the Hawks in the first inning, leading off with a slip past the Hawks infield. Two singles and a stolen base put the Cardinals back to home plate. William Jewell sent a three-run homer to left center, good for a 7-0 lead at the top of the second inning. Kaelyn Conger's day was done after the long ball; freshman Kaidence Dumas took over the battery to get out of the inning. 

Mykah Hurley had the Hawks' first hit of the day, but was stopped on her way to third on a quick ball from the Cardinals' catcher. The Cardinals took advantage of a slip through Kinsey Biggerstaff and scored a run in the top of the third inning. 

Quincy stayed quiet until the fourth inning, this time Isabella Shields hit one into deep right field for a single. The Hawks looked to rally with their two outs, but Kenzie Moss's ding out to shortstop was not enough to get out of the infield and Shields was out at second with the force out. The Cardinals ended their scoring in the top of the fifth with an RBI ground out. 

Game Two 
The Cardinals opened game two with a lead-off home run to left field. Quincy's right side shut down William Jewell for the remainder of the inning, sending the next three batters back to the dugout. 

Quincy had a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning with singles along the foul line from Allyson Maynard, Moss and Hurley. With the bases loaded, Alexus Freeman tried to slot one up the middle, but quick movement from the Cardinals' second baseman ended the Hawks inning early. 

The Cardinals added two more runs in the next inning to take the lead 3-0, but Quincy was quick to close the gap during its turn to bat. Jessie Martin started things off with a walk, and singles from Shields and Biggerstaff helped Martin back across home plate. Shields and Biggerstaff shifted on a Cardinals wild pitch, and Shields came home on a hit back to the pitcher from Maynard. 

William Jewell responded to the Hawks' scores with three more runs of its own. Quincy had an electric time in the bottom of the inning, however, with Hurley securing an extra base single to lead the Hawks off. Martin walked and Lindsey Fischer sent the ball off the wall for a two-run triple to bring the Hawks back within one run. The Cardinals came back with another three-run inning in the fourth to jump their lead to four runs. Quincy could not find it's groove, and fell to the Cardinals 12-4. 

Emma Stieferman started battery for the Hawks in game two and recorded a strikeout. Dumas came in again in game two, striking out two of 18 batters faced. Hurley and Maynard led the Hawks' offense against the Cardinals, each knocking three hits into play. 

The Hawks look to bounce back with another home doubleheader on Sunday against the Bulldogs of Truman State.