Momentun-seizing home runs from Simpson, Broughton catapult Hawks to sweep

QUINCY — Austin Simpson and David Broughton put a charge into the Quincy University baseball team’s pursuit of a conference tournament berth.

Simpson, the junior first baseman, jacked a three-run home run in the fifth inning of Saturday’s opener game of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader against Southwest Baptist, erasing a two-run deficit and lifting the Hawks to a 4-2 victory.

Broughton, the freshman third baseman, hammered a grand slam in the middle of an eight-run second inning in the nightcap, powering the Hawks to a 9-4 victory and the sweep at QU Stadium.

With the pair of victories,the Hawks (17-23, 14-13 GLVC) are above .500 in league play and now in a four-way tie for fifth place in the league standings. The top eight teams qualify for the postseason tournament. Quincy will go for its first series sweep of the season at noon Sunday.

In Saturday’s opener, QU right-hander Kobe Essien struck out nine over six innings, allowing five hits and two runs on a third-inning, two-run homer. Roman Harrison worked a flawless seventh inning for his fifth save of the season.

The Hawks managed just three hits, but two walks preceded Brock Boynton’s run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fifth. Broughton was hit by a pitch ahead of Simpson jacking his 14th home run of the season.

In the second game, the eight-run second inning featured a Boynton RBI single and a JD Ortiz two-run double sandwiched around Broughton’s grand slam. It was his fifth home run of the season.

Tom Conzemius allowed two runs and three hits over five innings to earn the victory, while Logan Mueller worked two-thirds of an inning to earn the save.