Six is a serious number: No. 13 Hawks use six-run rally in seventh inning to upend No. 4 Mules

QUINCY — Brock Boynton never felt the ball leave the bat.

“That’s when you know it’s going to be a good one,” he said.

Gino D’Allesio didn’t feel the ball explode off his bat either.

“I’ve been waiting for one of those,” he said.

When the Quincy University center fielder and shortstop barreled up pitches in back-to-back at-bats in the seventh inning Tuesday, it changed everything. Boynton’s two-run single pulled the 13th-ranked QU baseball team within a run of No. 4 Central Missouri, and D’Alessio followed with a three-run home run to left field to seize the lead.

The Hawks’ bullpen made that advantage last to the tune of an 8-6 victory and another signature non-conference moment for a team with legitimate NCAA Division II World Series aspirations.

“As a veteran hitter, you hold yourself higher than others to lead the way,” Boynton said. “During that time in the game, to get those runs in, it changed the tide of the game. You saw it. We put up six runs. That’s a Quincy six-spot right there.”

Nine times this season the Hawks (32-9) have scored six or more runs in an inning.

“The Quincy six-pack,” D’Alessio said with a smile.

The opportunity for six runs to matter so much would have been lost without Cruz Meier. The senior right-handed reliever was summoned from the bullpen with one out and two runners on base in the top of the seventh. Despite walking the first batter to load the bases, Meier came back with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

“If we don’t get out of that inning, the game’s probably over,” QU coach Matt Schissel said.

Everyone in the QU dugout sensed the shift in energy and momentum at that moment.

“Not everything was going our way in the beginning, and then Cruz comes in and gets us out of a huge jam,” D’Alessio said. “Our offense used that momentum and we built on it and we took off.”

The Hawks did so by being selective and aggressive.

Lance Logsdon led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, Nolan Wosman was hit by a pitch and Austin Simpson walked to load the bases. UCM (33-13) went to the bullpen, and reliever Brock Toney got Zach Parks to fly out to left field on the first pitch.

Connor Simons walked to force in one run, and Boynton followed by driving a three-ball, one-strike fastball to center field to score two runs.

“I was just trying to get those hands out in front to move those runners over and get some runs in,” Boynton said.

D’Alessio expected something big from Boynton in that at-bat.

“I could see it in his face, in his eyes,” D’Alessio said. “He was ready for that moment.”

The Mules went back to the bullpen, and D’Alessio greeted UCM right-hander Ethan Peterson by jumping on a two-ball, two-strike fastball and driving it deep over the left-field wall for his seventh home run of the season.

“I just wanted to see a ball up and drive the ball,” D’Alessio said. “That’s pretty much it.”

The teams traded runs in the eighth inning with Wosman blasting a solo home run to left field. In the ninth, the Hawks went to right-handed reliever Chase Gockel, who allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next three batters, including the final two on strikeouts.

It made Meier the winning pitcher after he struck out four in 1⅔ innings, while freshman left-hander Aaron Smith had a solid start, allowing four runs and four hits in 5⅓ innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

The victory, which split the season series with UCM, catapults the Hawks into the final home weekend of the regular season with a four-game series against Drury beginning at 3 p.m. Friday at QU Stadium. They close the season the following weekend at Rockhurst.

“Before this game, I said we have to go into the conference tournament on a nine-game heater,” Boynton said. “If you go into the conference tournament on a nine-game heater, that sets the stage for playoff time.”