Hawks sense big moment coming despite losing two close games to No. 3 Mules

QUINCY — Isaiah Fudge senses the Quincy University baseball team is close to turning a corner.

“We know we have it in us,” said Fudge, a sophomore infielder.

Quincy’s battles with Central Missouri, the No. 3 team in the NCBWA poll, on Friday provided Fudge with his most recent pieces of evidence. 

The Hawks had a lead as late as the sixth inning in the first game of their doubleheader with the Mules and were within two runs going into the ninth inning of the second game, but the Mules scored six runs in the final three innings of game one and and held the Hawks at bay in game two to sweep the twinbill 15-12 and 9-6 at QU Stadium.

“The talent’s there,” Fudge said of the Hawks, who beat No. 1 Tampa in the second game of a three-game series on Feb. 15 but have gone 8-7 since. “It shows throughout the whole game. Everyone believes in it. It’s going to come through eventually.”

Hawks coach Matt Schissel saw glimpses of that potential on Friday, too.

“We played well enough to beat a lot of teams in the country, but not the No. 3 team in the country,” Hawks coach Matt Schissel said. “We did a lot of good things, but they just did better things. Pretty simple.”

One of those good things was David Broughton’s grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning of the first game that gave the Hawks an 8-5 lead.

“It felt good, but we know they’re such a good team that they’re going to fight back,” Broughton said. “We had our highs, but we had to keep playing.”

So did the Mules. Central Missouri scored four runs in the top of the sixth, regaining the lead on a one-out, two-run double by freshman second baseman Grant Hollister.

The Hawks responded the next half inning with a two-out, two-run home run by Jake Vitale into the wind down the right-field line to seesaw back in front 10-9.

“It was a really good swing,” Schissel said of Vitale, who reached base three times and scored two runs on Friday. “He worked a good at-bat. He worked good at-bats all day.”

The Mules tied the game in the top of the seventh when Kaleb Ceola scored on a Kyle Manship wild pitch. Vance Tobol put the Mules up for good with a two-out, two-run home run later that inning.

Central Missouri (16-3) added an insurance tally in the eighth and two more in the ninth. Quincy (10-10) did not record another hit and only had two baserunners in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings until Fudge hit a two-run home run to center with two outs in the ninth.

The Hawks’ late-inning struggles continued in the nightcap. After Joe Huffman homered deep into the parking lot beyond the left field wall with two outs in the bottom of the third to get Quincy within a run at 6-5, the Hawks scored just one run and left 10 runners on base the rest of the game.

The Hawks’ lone run in the final six innings came on a solo blast by Harry Fandre leading off the bottom of the seventh that trimmed the Mules’ lead to 8-6. The next two batters — Evan Davis and Vitale — reached base, putting runners at first and second with no outs and bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. John Nisbet and Ben Dahlof each attempted to bunt the runners over, but both bunt attempts resulted in the lead runner getting thrown out at third base. Fudge struck out swinging to end the inning.

“We discussed it all day, just leaving guys on,” said Fudge, who went 4 for 9 with four RBIs and reached based five times in the two games. “We were so close. It’s just frustrating against a team like that. You’re right there, you play good ball, and you just can’t get it done.”

A Cody Moore RBI groundout brought in the Mules’ ninth run, and Chris Massey capped off a three-inning save by retiring the Hawks in order in the ninth.

“They came out and just kept grinding,” Vitale said. “It’s something that we’ll learn from. We’re still a young team. We’ll start putting it together.”

The Hawks used four pitchers to get through the opener, but starter Kobe Essian toughed out six innings and threw 115 pitches before giving way to sidewinder David Kelliher for the final three frames in the second game. Essien struck out seven while walking just one and finished his outing with back-to-back scoreless innings.

“They just grinded out good at-bats and got his pitch count up,” Schissel said. “We probably let him go a little too long, but he was better at the end than he was at the start, and he saved us bullpen-wise for Sunday.”

Another challenge awaits the Hawks on Sunday when they welcome No. 18 Davenport to QU Stadium for a doubleheader starting at noon.

“It’s going to be another day just like this,” Schissel said. “For us to host No. 3 and No. 18 is pretty cool for us.”

Schissel said Sunday will provide another barometer of sorts for the Hawks.

“I think we’re very close, but we just have to do it,” Schissel said. “That’s what this weekend is about. We’ve got another two big games Sunday. That was our conversation postgame. We have to find a way to turn that corner. We’re playing with these teams. Now we just have to find a way to beat them. It’s top to bottom, me all the way down to the bullpen catcher.”