‘It’s like a punch in the face’: Hawks miss opportunities in eighth and ninth, come up short in Super Regional

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Missed it by THAT much.

The Quincy University baseball team had the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth inning of the deciding game, and it had the tying runs on base in the ninth inning.

In each instance, the Hawks couldn’t come up with the biggest hit of the season.

QU’s bid for next week’s NCAA Division II World Series came to an excruciating end in a pair of Midwqest Super-Regional losses to Illinois-Springfield. The Hawks won the first game of the best-of-three series 20-6 on Saturday, but they lost 10-4 and 10-8 to the Prairie Stars on Saturday afternoon. 

Illinois-Springfield (48-9) earned its first-ever berth to the eight-team World Series that starts June 4 in Cary, N.C.

The Hawks (37-25) must deal with what could have been.

“Being so close and then just next thing you know, it’s ripped away from you,” Hawks senior Dayson Croes said. “Sometimes that’s just how things go. I’m proud of every single one of my teammates. We battled. We were down five with three outs left (in the second game), and we chose to put up three runs, so we never gave up. 

“It’s been an honor playing for this team and these guys.”

Quincy scored just one run through the first six innings of the second game. Luke Napleton provided a spark with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to get the Hawks within 5-3. That homer was his 20th of the season, and he became only the second player in QU history to accomplish that feat (Ryan Snyder hit 23 in 2016).

Most home runs in a single season at Quincy University

Illinois-Springfield put up a run in the bottom of the inning when Brant Vanaman delivered an RBI single, but the Hawks put together a big rally in the top of the eighth.

Lance Logsdon led off with a single to right. Reliever Matt Blaney came in to hit Nolan Wosman with the second pitch he threw, and Prairie Stars manager Ryan Copeland brought in left-hander Blake Begner. Zach Parks then hit a ground ball to shortstop Anthony DeConcilis’ right, and he couldn’t throw Parks out first. Sebastian Martinez grounded out to first, driving in Logsdon.

Joe Roscetti then hit a fly ball to right field that glanced off Austin Alderman’s glove (and generously was ruled a single), allowing Wosman to cross home plate and make the score 6-5 with runners on first and third. Begner then struck out Brock Boynton, and he struck out Napleton swinging to end the threat.

“I’m going to have nightmares of that pitch,” Napleton said. “It was just a fastball, middle up, and I missed it.”

Sam Stephens will have nightmares of the bottom of the eighth inning. The senior reliever, who led the Hawks in saves this season with six, gave up three home runs — a two-run drive by Brandon Bannon and solo homers from Zion Pettigrew and Kal Youngquist — that seemingly allowed the Prairie Stars to put the game away.

Illinois-Springfield entered the tournament with 101 home runs in 54 games, then added eight more in Saturday’s doubleheader.

“We were going to finish up with (Alex) Pribyl and Sam,” Hawks coach Matt Schissel said. “Win or lose, they’re the ones who will be on the mound. (UIS) got them.”

The Hawks certainly didn’t bow out quietly.

After Croes grounded out to lead off the ninth, Gino D’Alessio walked and Logsdon singled. Wosman then smoked a line-drive three-run homer to right field to make the score 10-8.

Zach Parks singled to center, but Martinez struck out on three curveballs for the second out. Roscetti kept the rally alive with a two-strike single to center, bringing the left-handed hitting Boynton to the plate with the right-handed hitting Napleton on deck.

Boynton had three hits in the doubleheader, including a home run in the opener, but he rolled over on Begner’s curveball and hit a grounder to Youngquist, who stepped on first to end the game.

“We were trying to figure out what we were going to do (if Boynton reached base), but we weren’t going to let Begner face Napleton because he kills lefties,” Copeland said with a sigh of relief.

Boynton thought he missed his pitch.

“I will have nightmares about that probably until next year,” he said. “I’ve been dreaming about that hanging curveball that’s right there. Your eyes get all big, and then you roll over on it. That’s baseball. It’s a round bat, and there’s a round ball. It’s tough.”

The third game was necessary because the Hawks couldn’t expand on an early three-run lead in the first game. The tide turned in the top of the third inning (UIS was the visiting team) when, with two outs, two runners on and first base open, Schissel decided Jay Hammel would pitch to Pettigrew, the two-time GLVC Player of the Year.

Pettigrew made the Hawks pay with a three-run game-tying homer to right field. After an infield single by Alderman, Youngquist followed with a two-run homer to center field.

“Not walking Zion blows up into a five-run inning,” Schissel said.

Left-handed reliever Mason Coon shut out the Hawks for three innings, and Ian Delleman pitched a scoreless ninth for the Prairie Stars. The Nos. 2 through 7 hitters in the QU lineup went a combined 2-for-20 in the game.

“We had chances, and we fought like hell out there in the ninth inning,” Schissel said. “I think that ninth inning encapsulates our year.”

Croes now hopes to catch on with an independent professional team, but for most of the seniors, Saturday’s baseball games were the last ones of their lives. The doubleheader loss was a rough way to end, especially coming as close as they did to their goal.

“I’m sick to my stomach, because I know how hard all these guys worked,” Boynton said.

“It’s like a punch in the face,” Croes said. “It hurts a bit more, knowing this is my last college game, but it’s been a hell of a ride.”

Most strikeouts by a pitcher in a single season at Quincy University