Quincy, Ill. – The Hawks met the Greyhounds on a cold Saturday (Apr. 5) afternoon for a series-opening doubleheader. Quincy took game one, a nine-inning affair, with a final of 8-6. Game two was seven innings, and Indianapolis came away with an 8-1 victory to earn a split through the first two games of the series.

GAME ONE

The Greyhounds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out double down the left field line, but the Hawks had an answer in the home half. After the first two batters reached via a walk and a hit-by-pitch, David Broughton swung the lead in favor of QU with a three-run homer to right field. A fourth run came into score after an errant throw from the UIndy catcher, and the five-run inning was capped off with a sacrifice fly from JD Ortiz.

Indianapolis cut into the four-run deficit after scoring two more in the second. An RBI single and run-scoring wild pitch made it 5-3 through two innings of play. That lead did not make it past the third inning, as the Greyhound's first baseman hit a go-ahead three-run shot in the top of the third inning to regain the lead at 6-5.

Moving into the bottom of the fourth, the game saw the lead change for a fourth time. Matt Mateo tied the game with a sacrifice fly to shallow center field, which was followed by a two-out RBI single from Ben Dahlof. 

The game turned from an offensive battle to a pitchers' duel in the mid to late innings. The Greyhounds threatened to regain the lead in the fifth, but David Kelliher had an answer for the UIndy bats. Kelliher worked out of a first and second nobody-out jam in the fifth, then proceeded to throw another 2.2 scoreless frames until running into trouble in the eighth. 

With the game still sitting at 7-6, Kelliher was able to get two outs in the eighth inning, but a walk and an error chased him from the game, setting things up for Tom Conzemius. Conzemius struggled to find the zone, loading the bases with another walk. With the bases loaded and the go-ahead run on base, Conzemius punched out the Greyhound's cleanup hitter to hold the QU lead.

With the Hawks looking for insurance, Mateo answered the bell with a screaming line drive over the right field wall for his team-leading ninth home run of the year, making it 8-6 in favor of the Hawks heading to the final frame. 

Conzemius was the man looking to close the door, and he would do exactly that, evading a one-out hit by a pitch to earn his first career save and give the Hawks a series-opening victory.

Kelliher's longest outing of the year, 3.2 scoreless frames, earned him his first win in a Hawk uniform. The Hawks outhit the Greyhounds 10-6 and hits from Mateo and Dahlof extended each of their hitting streaks. 

GAME TWO

Indianapolis found themselves with a 1-0 lead before the Hawks touched the bats once again. This time, it was the UIndy leadoff man who deposited a fastball over the right field wall to open up the ball game. A second home run in the following inning gave the Greyhounds a 3-0 lead after two innings. 

Those three runs were the only runs to cross the plate until the seventh inning, as both starting pitchers dominated for each side. Despite the two home runs, Hawks starter Roman Harrison was fantastic for the second straight start. Harrison went on to shut out the Greyhounds for the next four innings. He finished with 107 pitches through six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, no walks, and three punchouts. 

With Harrison's pitch count going north of 100, the Hawks went to the bullpen in the seventh inning, and the Greyhounds blew the game open, putting up five runs in the final frame with a little help from the QU defense. UIndy mustered three singles in the inning, but two errors, a walk, and a hit by pitch propelled the Greyhounds to make it 8-0 heading to the final frame. 

UIndy starter Bennett Rogers limited the Hawks' offense for six innings and was looking for a shutout. However, shortstop Joe Huffman had other plans, as he got the Hawks on the board with his seventh home run of the season to put Quincy on the board. That was the only run Rodgers surrendered, as he recorded the final three outs and finished with a line of seven innings, five hits, one run, two walks, and three strikeouts. 

Tomorrow will consist of another doubleheader between the two teams, wrapping up the series in two days. Game one will be seven innings, with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 PM CDT, with a nine-inning game to follow.