Hawks’ Napleton picks up GLVC weekly honor after belting five home runs in series sweep

QUINCY — Luke Napleton’s first at-bat set the tone for quite a weekend that earned him Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week when all was said and done.

The Quincy University baseball team’s junior catcher roped a line drive over Augustana center fielder Trevor Winterstein that turned into a triple thanks to his hustle and head-first slide into the bag. It was the last time he had to dive into third base. He simply rounded the base on his home trot five times thereafter.

Napleton helped the Hawks complete a three-game sweep of the Vikings as he went 8 for 13 with five home runs, eight RBIs and five runs scored. It earned him his first GLVC Player of the Week honor and gave the Hawks back-to-back weekly winners after shortstop Gino D’Alessio was honored last week.

Overall, Napleton is hitting .351 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs. He has 30 career home runs, which is tied for fourth in program history.