Walker bounces back with complete command, strikes out 10 in Hawks’ victory over Bulldogs

QUINCY — Spencer Walker paused as he searched for the most apropos way to describe his mindset when he took the mound Friday afternoon.

“I can’t find the word,” he frustratedly said.

He needed more than one.

“I went out there with a little more of a chip on my shoulder,” Walker said.

He pitched with an edge due to that.

The senior right-hander struck out the first two batters he faced, fanned 10 overall and guided the Quincy University baseball team to a 14-4 victory over Truman State in the first of four Great Lakes Valley Conference games this weekend at QU Stadium.

It was the kind of bounce-back effort the Hawks expected from their ace.

“He was low in the zone, threw the breaking ball for strikes,” QU coach Matt Schissel said. “He looked really good. He was sharp. He was downhill. Everything was low. It’s exactly what we needed from him.”

It’s what the Hawks have come to expect from him.

Walker lasted at least four innings in 21 consecutive starts prior to last week’s loss to Missouri S&T in which he allowed nine runs in the first inning and was pulled without recording an out. It was the first time in his career he didn’t make it out of the first inning.

It had been on his mind the entire week.

“Definitely,” Walker said. “There was a lot more focus on going back to square one. I focused on where I went wrong and what I could have done better and working on it throughout the week.”

It made him more aggressive, more consistent and more bulldogged. Walker retired six of the first seven batters he faced, didn’t flinch when Truman State scored three times in the third inning on circumstances Schissel called “goofy,” and retired eight of the final nine batters he faced before leaving after six innings.

Walker allowed two earned runs and five hits while walking none to improve to 4-1.

“It’s easy to tell when they have their fastball and curveball command,” QU catcher Luke Napleton said. “The first strikeout was a perfect pitch. He couldn’t have made it any better. When he has that, you feel like it’s a good start to the day and he’ll be in command all over the plate all day.”