Punctuating a sweep: Simpson’s homer caps Hawks’ perfect weekend against Prairie Stars

QUINCY — Austin Simpson knew he couldn’t go home empty-handed or he’d never live it down.

His roommates — Dustin DuPont and Adam Lewis — both hit home runs Saturday in helping the Quincy University baseball team build an insurmountable lead in the finale of its Great Lakes Valley Conference series with Illinois-Springfield.

So when slugging first baseman came to the plate for what he assumed would be his final at-bat in the sixth inning, Simpson had to take an all-or-nothing approach.

Judging by where the ball landed, he got all of it.

Simpson launched a three-run home run to right field that ended up on the middle of the QU Stadium football field, punctuating a 21-7 victory, a series sweep and the fourth seed for the GLVC Tournament.

“I was struggling for a couple of weeks with my timing, something was off, just a little was off,” Simpson said. “So I was working on that throughout the week. But what really motivated me was my roommates both hit a home run, so I was like, ‘Now I have to since it’s Senior Day.’ Now they can’t give me crap anymore.”

Considering the Hawks’ largest offensive output of the season equaled three touchdowns, it was quite apropos where Simpson’s homer landed.

“You’ve got to hit it there I guess,” Simpson said with a chuckle.

The Hawks hit it there and everywhere to carry a massive wave of momentum to Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Ill., where the GLVC Tournament begins Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded Quincy (25-25, 22-14 GLVC) will face fifth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis (30-20, 21-15 GLVC) at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the lidlifter. The Hawks and Tritons did not face each other during the regular season, and Quincy had a better record against common opponents.

And the teams are trending in different directions. The Hawks won 11 of their final 12 GLVC games, while the Tritons went 6-6 and lost three times to Missouri S&T in the season’s final series.

“We knew that we had to wake up to make the tournament alone, but aso make a push into the postseason,” said sophomore shortstop Joe Huffman, who went 3 for 4 with a double and three runs scored. “We want it more than the other teams do.”

Simpson’s two-run double in the first inning reiterated that.

“The gears are starting to click together and we’re starting to move as one,” said Simpson, who went 5 for 5 with six RBIs. “I don’t think a lot of teams want to face us right now.”

Illinois-Springfield entered the weekend eighth in the Midwest Region rankings and vying for one of the final four spots in the GLVC Tournament field, but the Prairie Stars couldn’t get the Hawks out. Quincy scored 44 runs in the series and eliminated UIS from postseason consideration.

“We’ve had quality starts on the mound, the bullpen’s been good and we’ve done a really good offensively executing a plan,” QU coach Matt Schissel said. “We’re moving guys around and scoring with all outs. Our big inning today came with two outs. It’s been good.”

A quality start from freshman right-hander Kade Ruffner, helped set the tone as well.

Ruffner allowed one run over the first four innings, hit a snag in the fifth, but managed to strike out five and walk just one in earning his first victory of the season. Eli Ecton threw 1 ⅔ innings of scoreless, hitless relief with two strikeouts, and Seth West punctuated it with a scoreless seventh inning.

Meanwhile, the top six in the Hawks’ batting order were each on base at least three times and combined for 13 hits, 15 runs, 13 RBIs and eight extra-base hits.

“I felt like we were just having fun,” Simpson said.