Hawks continue to showcase offensive firepower, finish sweep of Bearcats with big bang

QUINCY — Filling out the lineup card isn’t too much of a chore for Quincy University baseball coach Matt Schissel.

“It isn’t drawing straws,” he said.

Eight starters are hitting .350 or better. Seven starters have each hit six or more home runs. Five have 30 or more RBIs. And every single one of them enjoyed a moment where they contributed to Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of McKendree at QU Stadium.

Luke Napleton launched three home runs, Gino D’Alessio collected five hits and the Hawks racked up 26 hits and seven home runs in winning 13-6 and 15-4.

“When the guys are all in rhythm, it’s pretty fun hitting the ball around the ballpark,” said designated hitter Austin Simpson, who had two hits and drove in three runs in the Great Lakes Valley Conference twinbill. “One through nine, anyone can hit the ball out.

“All that energy spreads through us like a virus.”

It makes even the best pitching staffs in the GLVC feel ill.

The Hawks have hit at least 10 home runs in each of the five conference series played and have hit 33 more home runs than any other team in the league. The 12 home runs hit in the four-game series against McKendree pushed QU’s season total to 89, tying the single-season program record set over 57 games in 2016.

Quincy has played just 36 games so far this season.

“One through nine, we’re really hard to get out,” Napleton said. “So we’re putting up numbers against pitchers who really aren’t that bad. It just makes us look better, and it makes them look worse than they actually are.”

Napleton is making every hurler look foolish. He went 3 for 5 with a double, home run and five RBIs in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader and then went 3 for 4 with two home runs, four runs scored and four RBIs in the nightcap.

In the four weekend games combined, he went 11 for 16 with four home runs and 12 RBIs. The junior catcher leads the nation with 21 home runs and is among the top 10 with 59 RBIs.

“The protection of our lineup is incredible,” Napleton said. “There are no off batters in our lineup. Obviously, you have to pitch to everyone.”

Simpson knows that as well as anyone.

With D’Alessio hitting leadoff with a .375 and a GLVC-best 50 runs scored and Napleton in the No. 3 spot, Simpson is taking advantage of hitting between them. He’s hitting .384 with a .500 on-base percentage and 14 home runs.

“I’m going to get some pitches,” Simpson said. “I’ve been seeing my share of pitches to hit. They don’t want to walk me and put me on with what’s coming behind me, especially when Gino’s getting on in front of me.”

But it hasn’t made him overly eager to hit.

“I’m more thinking about what my approach is going to be, where runners are at, what am I looking for personally, how am I going to get the guy over, how am I going to get him in,” Simpson said of his thought process in the on-deck circle. “I’m not necessarily salivating over the chance to hit, but I’m thinking about how I’m going to get my job done.”

That’s the entire lineup.

“The guys we run out are all going to put together good at-bats,” Schissel said. “They’re going to hit behind guys, they’re going to move guys over, they’re going to drive guys in.”

It’s why the Hawks (28-8, 16-4 GLVC) have the chance to be one of the best hitting teams in program history, not just one of the elite slugging teams. The current .334 team batting average ranks fifth all-time in QU single-season history.

“We’re doing jobs at the plate,” Napleton said. “Nobody’s getting too big.”