Hawks erase four-run deficit, win GLVC series against Saints

QUINCY — Luke Napleton tossed the bat away thinking he’d just drawn a walk, but the home plate umpire called it a strike to force the Quincy University catcher back into the batter’s box to face a full-count payoff pitch.

But he only had a few seconds to regroup because the pitch clock was running.

So QU baseball coach Matt Schissel took an offensive timeout, chatted with Napleton to give him time to regroup and vent, and then sent his slugger back to the plate.

The game changed right there. Napleton launched a solo home run to left field and Lance Logsdon followed with a full-count home run to left-center field, sparking a rally from a four-run deficit that ended with an 8-4 victory over Maryville in the final game of their Great Lakes Valley Conference series.

“One of things we talked about was having team at-bats,” Logsdon said. “You can see the difference in at-bats for everybody when it’s for the team compared to, not themselves, but just a different aspect in the approach.”

The comeback enabled the Hawks (23-8, 12-4 GLVC) to win the final three games of the series after squandering a three-run lead in the ninth inning of the first game.

“At that point, our team could either lay down and die and ruin the whole weekend or fight back,” Logsdon said. “Everybody regrouped. This is a really, really strong team. The resiliency and toughness we’ve shown this whole weekend, it says a lot about our team.”

Logsdon played a major role in that Saturday.

Trailing 4-2 heading to the sixth, the Hawks took advantage of defensive shifts by the Saints to snare the lead. Gino D’Alessio singled through an open hole at second base to lead off the inning, and Austin Simpson’s grounder down the third-base line moved D’Alessio to third. 

Napleton greeted reliever Drake Downing with a check-swing single to a hole at second base, scoring D’Alessio. Logsdon laser-beamed a triple over the head of center fielder Zeb Roos, plating Simpson and Napleton to give Quincy the lead.

It was Logsdon’s first triple of the season.

“Probably my last triple,” Logsdon said with a smile.

Logsdon finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.

“Guys put me in those positions to succeed,” Logsdon said. “Credit to everybody else for getting on base. They did the hard part. I did the easy part.”

Nolan Wosman added an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Simpson launched a two-run home run in the seventh.

It made a winner of left-handed reliever Roman Harrison, who worked four scoreless innings in back of right-handed starter Jay Hammel. Harrison allowed three hits and one walk. Hammel struck out six, walked three and allowed three hits over five innings.