QU pitchers turn in two stellar outings, but Maryville pitchers even better in twinbill sweep

QUINCY — Excellent pitching gave the Quincy University baseball team a puncher’s chance in Saturday’s Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader.

The only problem for the Hawks? The Saints’ pitching was a little bit better.

Both Maryville starting pitchers — Ben Gregory and Ty Rauser — tossed complete-game, seven-inning shutouts as the Saints swept the twinbill by scores of 2-0 and 1-0 at QU Stadium.

“We were beating ourselves mostly, but they were throwing a lot of strikes and battling,” Hawks sophomore infielder Isaiah Fudge said. “They out-competed us today, and that’s just how it goes.”

In game one, Quincy left-hander Roman Harrison pitched 6 ⅓ innings, scattered seven hits, surrendered two runs and struck out eight while walking one. However, the Hawks mustered just three hits — all singles — off of Gregory.

“I thought with Ben, as far as mixing his pitches, it was probably one of his best starts that he’s had in his three years with us,” Maryville coach Pat Evers said.

Sophomore right-hander Kyle Manship took the ball for the Hawks in the second game. He worked six innings, struck out seven and gave up four hits and one run.

“I was just trusting my preparation throughout the week,” Manship said. “My off-speed was doing what I wanted it to. I was locating whatever I wanted to, just trusting my defense.”

Hawks coach Matt Schissel was impressed with the assertiveness and command Manship showed against a Maryville lineup that had scored 32 runs in three games leading up to Saturday.

“When he’s getting ahead and he’s spinning the breaking balls for strikes, it gives us a chance every time,” Schissel said.

Like in game one, however, the Hawks did not capitalize on that chance. Rauser silenced the Hawks bats to the tune of a three-hit shutout while striking out nine and walking one. In his last three starts, Rauser has pitched 19 innings, given up just two earned runs, struck out 25 and walked five.

“Rauser has been better every single time out,” Evers said. “He’s been more efficient. The fastball plays, but he’s done a great job as far as being able to mix his secondary pitches, control counts, hold runners, those little things. He gets a lot of swing and miss and occasionally runs into some high pitch counts, but he’s been able to be a little more efficient and has been on a roll here lately.”

With Maryville leading 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth of the opener, the Hawks had runners on first and third with no outs. When Cole Erickson grounded into a fielder’s choice, David Broughton broke from third and was thrown out at home. Erickson was then caught stealing second to end the inning, and Gregory retired the Hawks in order in the seventh.

In game two, Fudge snuck a base hit through the right side with one out in the bottom of the seventh to bring the potential winning run to the plate. 

“I was just glad to give us an opportunity,” Fudge said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

That opportunity was short-lived. After Fudge’s base hit, Rauser struck out pinch hitter Carson Moreno and designated hitter Quinn Schultz to end the game.

“You’ve always got a chance,” Schissel said. “We pinch hit and it doesn’t work out. You’ve got another guy after that who has a chance, and it just doesn’t work out. We just didn’t want to make the third out on the bases, so we made sure not to do that. It just didn’t go our way.”

The Hawks (21-24, 14-13 GLVC) and Saints (27-18, 19-8) conclude their four-game series at noon Sunday. Quincy can earn a split with a victory. It is tied for sixth in the conference stndings with Missouri S&T, and it is only a half-game ahead of Missouri-St. Louis and one game ahead of McKendree. After Sunday, the Hawks have four conference games remaining against Truman State, which is in 14th place in the 15-team league.

“I’m very positive we’ll come out tomorrow and we’ll have a great day,” Fudge said. “We’ll come back.”