Position of power: Wosman returns to seeing barrel meet ball, crushes pair of homers for Hawks

QUINCY — Nolan Wosman has never lost sight of what matters.

A frustrating weekend swinging the bat couldn’t change that.

A week ago, during the Quincy University baseball team’s four-game march to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship, the senior second baseman struggled to marry the barrel to the ball. He went 2 for 19 at the plate with 10 strikeouts.

Not exactly the kind of numbers the No. 5 hitter in the Hawks’ power-packed lineup is used to producing. He had ended the regular season hitting .316 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.

“Last weekend, even if we didn’t do well, we were still going to make the regional no matter what,” Wosman said. “But it would have hit home a little more for me had I not played well and we hadn’t won the conference championship.

“At the end of the day, if the team brings home the championship, if you told me I had to strike out every at-bat the whole tournament for us to win it, I would have done it without a problem.”

It’s just more fun when the ball is jumping off the bat like it did Thursday.

Wosman returned to his power-stroking ways in the top-seeded Hawks’ 18-8 victory over Wayne State in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional opener, launching a pair of home runs to left field while going 3 for 4 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

It was part of an 18-hit, seven-homer attack for the Hawks, who will face Northwood at noon Friday in the double-elimination format. The teams will play again at noon Saturday with a third and final game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday if necessary.

“We all know we don’t need three people to hit five home runs, even though today was one of those days where guys were hitting the ball,” said Wosman, who saw Gino D’Alessio hit three home runs and Austin Simpson smash two. “When it comes down to it, everyone is willing to do whatever they have to in order to get to the next step.”

That would be a spot in next week’s super regional.

First, though, that means staying with the task at hand.

“We’ve done a really good job all year of playing a full nine,” Wosman said. “I don’t think we’ve had any games really where we’ve shown up and played only four hard innings and kind of rolled over the last couple. This time of year, that’s going to be the biggest thing. Obviously, any team that steps on the field at this point is going to be a good ballclub.

“To get one of them out and not have a loss in the loss column, that’s a big boost for us moving forward.”