QUINCY, Ill. – The Hawks were back in action at home for a GLVC battle against the Panthers of Drury University on a windy Friday afternoon (Mar. 28). The two teams split the doubleheader, with Drury taking game one 13-11, and the Hawks snagging game two with a score of 20-1.
GAME ONE
The Panthers jumped on the board first, scoring a run in the first inning with a sacrifice fly to center field. The lead doubled in the second inning after the Panthers designated hitter hit the first of many home runs on the day with a solo shot to right field. In the home half of the second, Quincy found themselves with their first lead of the game, scoring four runs.
Jake Vitale drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, then a two-out single from
Byron Blaise off the shortstop's glove tied the game at two apiece. One batter later,
Matt Mateo tripled to the deepest part of the yard, making it 4-2 after two innings of play.
Drury answered in the top of the third, scoring three runs to regain the lead. A two-run single from the Panther's center fielder tied up the game, followed by another run-scoring single to make it 5-4.
An inning later, in the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks struck back with their first home run of the game. A towering fly ball onto the football field from
Quinn Schultz, for his first career home run in a Hawk uniform, drove in three to make it 7-5.
In the following frame, QU put up another crooked number to extend their lead. It started with an RBI single from
JD Ortiz. Two batters later, Blaise knocked in his second RBI of the game with a double down the right-field line. The four-run inning was capped off by a seeing-eye single from
Ben Dahlof through the 3-4 hole to drive in two more.
Kobe Essien earned the game-one start for the Hawks, and he was able to limit the damage of the Panther offense, tossing five innings, giving up five runs on six hits, four walks, and six punchouts.
Tom Conzemius was the first man out of the bullpen for Quincy in the sixth inning, where he evaded two singles and put up a zero for the Hawks.
After being held scoreless for three straight frames, the Panthers cut into the Hawk lead, scoring on a wild pitch in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning, with the Hawks leading 11-6, Panthers third baseman Jackson Crider hit a no-doubt homer to left field to make it 11-8, heading into the final inning of play.
Quincy was three outs away from securing a game-one victory, but Drury had other plans. The inning began with three straight doubles, slicing the QU lead down to one, and with one swing of the bat from Crider, the Hawks's lead diminished. A second home run from the Panthers third baseman put DU on top 12-11. The Panthers were not done, as they added an insurance run with three straight singles to make it 13-11, moving into the home half of the ninth.
The first two Hawks quickly went down quickly, but Blaise and Mateo extended the game with a pair of singles, bringing the winning run to the plate. However, the Panthers closer blew a fastball by Dahlof to close out a comeback victory for the Panthers in game one.
GAME TWO
After a tough loss in game one,
Roman Harrison was given the starting assignment, and he set the tone in inning one, sitting the Panthers down in order with a couple of strikeouts. The QU offense fed off the energy from their starting pitcher, piling on eight runs in the home half of the first inning.
Harry Fandre drove in half of those runs with an opposite-field grand slam for his second career home run as a Hawk. The second home run of the inning belonged to
Carson Moreno, who drove a line shot over the center field fence to add on two more. But this was not the final big fly of the inning, as Mateo hit his fifth home run of the season, driving in
John Nisbet to close an eight-run frame.
Fandre continued his fantastic day at the plate, driving in his fifth run of the game with an RBI single in the second inning. The Panthers scored their only run off of Harrison in game two in the top of the third, as Crider continued his great day at the plate for the Panthers with a run-scoring single.
Dahlof drove in his third RBI of the day with a single that snuck down the left-field line for the Hawks's 10th run. In the following inning, two more runs came across to score courtesy of a sacrifice fly from
Cole Erickson and an RBI groundout from
Isaiah Fudge.
The Hawks offense was not done yet, as Mateo hit his second home run of the game in the fifth inning to make it 13-1, and it was followed up by a two-run shot from
David Broughton just three batters later.
Moreno added two more RBIs to his game two total with a double that split the left-center gap. The lineup card flipped over to
Matt Mateo once again, who continued his career day with his third home run of the game, driving in three more to make it 20-1 after six innings. Mateo finished the day going 8-11 with eight runs driven in, a triple, three home runs and even stole two bases.
Drury went down quietly in the 7th inning, wrapping up game two, as Harrison was able to complete the game himself. The big lefty finished with eight strikeouts gave up just one run on two hits, and did not walk a batter. This was the longest outing of his career, as Harrison moves to 3-1 on the year and may have solidified himself as a starter in the Hawks rotation.
It was a great day for the Hawks at the dish, scoring 31 runs on 35 hits through the two games. Blaise only played in game one, but he was 4-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Fandre was 4-8 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Dahlof extended his hitting streak to ten games as he was 4-11 in the two games batting in the two spot.
The Hawks offense looks to continue into tomorrow against the Panthers, as the series will wrap up with another doubleheader due to expected storms on Sunday. Game one will be a seven-inning game, with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 PM CDT, with a nine-inning game to follow.
