FAYETTE, Iowa – Quincy closed out the weekend by taking three of four games from Upper Iowa, securing a 15th consecutive GLVC Tournament appearance dating back to 2011 with an 11-7 win in Sunday's series finale.
Upper Iowa struck first with a run in the second inning, but the Hawks answered in the third inning third inning as
David Broughton singled followed by a
Jace Figuereo double before
Payton Mansfield launched a three-run home run, his third of the series and 11th of the season, to give Quincy a 3-1 lead.
The decisive blow came in the fifth inning for Quincy. The Hawks sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs, highlighted by a three-run double from
Ari Fivelson and RBI hits from
Harry Fandre and
Byron Blaise to stretch the lead to 11-1.
The Peacocks made things interesting in the sixth with a five-run inning, capped by a grand slam, to cut the deficit to 11-6. They added another run in the seventh, but the Quincy bullpen held the rest of the way to secure the victory.
After starter
Ben Draeger recorded just two outs, the bullpen was forced to carry the load.
Ethan McMasters worked through two innings of work, while
Matt Miscik and
Quinn Schultz bridged the middle innings. Mansfield closed out the game on the mound to earn his second save of the season.
Offensively, the Hawks continued their strong stretch at the plate. Mansfield extended his hit streak to five games while adding his third home run of the series.
Ben Dahlof, Figuereo, and
Isaiah Fudge each extended their hit streaks to five games, with Figuereo recording multi-hit performances in four of those contests.
Harry Fandre extended his hit streak to six games and recorded his fifth game this season with at least three hits, while
Joe Huffman tallied his fourth three-hit game of the year and now sits one hit shy of 200 for his career. Fivelson continued his run production, driving in runs in his fourth consecutive appearance.
The Hawks will wrap up the regular season on Tuesday with a non-conference matchup against Division I foe Western Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM from Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Illinois.
