QUINCY, Ill. — The Quincy Hawks took sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s West Division with a sweep of a doubleheader against Drury on Saturday in Quincy, Illinois. The Hawks took game one 10-6 and won game two 5-3.
Quincy won three of four in the weekend series and improved to 23-12 and 12-4 in the league. The Panthers dropped to 24-12 and 10-6 in the GLVC-West.
In game one, the Hawks belted three home runs in the seven-inning game on their way to a 10-6 win. Quincy answered a first inning run by Drury with a four-run opening frame and the Hawks added four more runs in the second.
Jake Walters and Jack Klages both homered in the second inning for Quincy and Troy Wehde added another bomb in the sixth as part of his 3 for 4, 3-RBI performance.
Nic Perkins had two home runs in the game for the Panthers as he went 2 for 2 with three runs batted in.
Drury trailed in game two 4-0 after five innings and threatened but fell short in a 5-3 loss.
The Panthers got on the board and back in the game with a pair of RBI singles in the sixth inning from Perkins and KK Daniel. The Hawks responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning but Drury got back within two on a RBI hit from Ethan Owens in the seventh.
Quincy’s bullpen held off Drury in the final two innings as Hawks pitching only allowed one earned run in the nine-inning.
Drury shortstop Shane Benes, who leads the team with a club record 12 home runs this season, missed the series with an illness.
The Panthers return to play on Tuesday with a non-conference game at Rogers State. Game time is 3 p.m. in Claremore, Oklahoma.
