Greyhounds’ Donaldson seizes extra opportunity to spoil final home start for Hawks’ Walker

QUINCY — Spencer Walker never saw exactly where Luke Napleton caught the fastball or where it crossed the plate.

He didn’t think he needed to look.

With runners on second and third and two outs in the top of the eighth inning Friday at QU Stadium, the Quincy University senior right-hander felt he’d painted the outside corner with a two-ball, two-strike pitch to Indianapolis all-region second baseman Drew Donaldson.

“I kind of yelled after it and bit my lip a little bit,” Walker said. “I had my back turned and I didn’t see the final call. I just felt like it was there. I turned around and it was a ball.”

Walker’s face expressed shock. Napleton, the junior catcher, had stood up and taken a step toward the dugout, assuming the pitch would be called a strike.

Suddenly, Walker had to challenge Donaldson, a .427 hitter and the Greyhounds’ leading run producer, with one more pitch.

“Still, like my dad always tells me, we’re not begging,” Walker said. “You have to get back up there and go to work.”

Donaldson smashed the next pitch to the left side of the infield, beating the throw from shortstop Joe Huffman to first base. It allowed Budjos to score the go-ahead run and Brandon DeWitt to score another when first baseman Lance Logsdon momentarily paused to argue the call.

The Greyhounds made the lead last for a 4-3 victory in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Super Regional at QU Stadium. The top-seeded Hawks must win twice Saturday to advance to the Division II World Series. One loss and their season is over.

One pitch might have changed that.

“When I went to make the pitching change, I asked (the home plate umpire) about it and he said it was low,” QU coach Matt Schissel said. “That’s not why we lost.”

A lack of consistent offense was as much the problem as anything else, but calling the pitch a ball gave Donaldson new life. He was the last person on the UIndy roster the Hawks would want to give a second chance.

Even so, Walker felt he threw a good pitch to Donaldson on the infield single.

“That last guy, I know my curveball is really effective against him,” Walker said. “So I was really confident throwing it to him. Just very unlucky that he hit that chopper.”

In his final appearance at QU Stadium, Walker worked 7 ⅔ innings, allowing four runs and five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. He suffered the loss, falling to 9-2 this season but still could have a chance to becoming the first pitcher in QU history with back-to-back 10-win seasons if the Hawks can reach the World Series.

“My last three outings haven’t been the greatest,” Walker said. “I relied on my fastball quite a bit because the curveball wasn’t there and the changeup was a struggle. I was leaving a lot of balls up. I experienced that there in the second inning when that guy hit the home run.”

The Greyhounds’ Nick Lukac blasted a two-run home run to right-center field, one of only two hits Indianapolis had in the first seven innings.

“After that inning, I started to find my groove and I found a rhythm,” Walker said. “I just rode it. I kept trying to get us in quick and get us back to the plate. I was trying to get the boys going and let the bats produce like we usually do.”

That didn’t happen, but if the rest of the QU staff follows Walker’s lead and throws efficient innings, the offense will eventually click and give the Hawks a chance.

“That’s all we want,” Walker said. “We want a chance to advance.”