KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Hawks traveled to Truman State for the final series of the regular season. Quincy chipped away through nine innings and opened the series with a big victory over the Bulldogs with a final of 6-3.
Both teams went scoreless through the first two frames, but the Hawks jumped on the board first in the top third inning after
Isaiah Fudge hit a solo shot for his fifth home run of the season. Truman answered with a run of its own in the home half, tying the game with an RBI fielder's choice.
The Bulldogs snagged their first lead of the game in the fourth inning courtesy of an RBI single from their second baseman. The lead did not make it past the fifth inning, as the Hawks put up a three-spot.
Matt Mateo tied the game with an RBI double, driving in his 53rd run of the season. Three batters later,
Jake Vitale came up big with a two-out, two-run double to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead after five innings.
In the following frame, QU extended its lead, plating two more runs.
Byron Blaise drove in a run with an RBI single, and Mateo drove in his second RBI of the game with a single of his own.
Truman State knocked out the Hawks starter
Kobe Essien after four innings, working deep into counts and putting traffic on the bases to push Essien's pitch count up to 95. Kobe finished the day tossing four innings, surrendering two runs, one earned, on six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. The Hawks' first man out of the bullpen was
Tom Conzemius, and for the second straight weekend, he was fantastic out of the bullpen.
After throwing 6.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the walk-off win over Maryville last weekend, Conzemius picked up right where he left off, throwing five innings, giving up one run, which was unearned, on five hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. The lone Bulldog run came in the seventh inning after an RBI single, but that was the only run scored off of Conzemius.
Truman State was able to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth innings after a pair of singles off Conzemius, but a flyout to centerfield put an end to game one and gave the Hawks a much-needed series-opening victory.
The Hawks have still yet to clinch a playoff spot in the GLVC Tournament, but are one win closer, as they still sit tied with Missouri S&T for the six spot. Quincy will be back on the diamond against Truman tomorrow, with a single game scheduled for 1:00 PM CDT.
