Quincy, Ill. – The Southwest Baptist University (SBU) baseball team rounded off their series against Quincy University with a win on Sunday, resulting in a split series between the Bearcats and the Hawks. The win brings SBU to a 15-21 record and 9-15 record in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
 
Both offenses began the game slowly as the only run through three innings came off a Ryan Ray home run in the top of the second to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. The Hawks equalized in the fourth inning before a Reese Ruderman single in the top of the fifth sent junior Collin McLemore home to put SBU up by one again. Not to be outdone, Quincy hit an RBI single of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning to knot the score up at 2-2.
 
Then, in the top of the seventh inning, SBU's bats came alive. After McLemore was hit by a pitch and Ruderman walked, junior Sam Schmidt hit a round tripper for three RBIs, giving the Bearcats a 5-2 lead. A walk by Ray and single from senior Scott Allan allowed senior Raydley Legito to hit a sacrifice bunt that sent Ray home, further increasing the Bearcats' lead to four. 
 
The team in purple added one more when a throwing error allowed junior Beau Honeycutt to reach home in the top of the eighth, putting SBU well out of reach of the Hawks. Quincy added two more runs in the final two innings, resulting in a 7-4 final score.
 
Freshman Dane Rodgers started on the mound for the Bearcats, notching one strikeout and allowing three hits, one walks, and one run. It was senior Conner Hammonds who got the win, however, after entering the game in the fourth inning and throwing three strikeouts. Redshirt junior Jude Sundquist earned his second save of the weekend after entering in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
SBU next returns to the baseball diamond on Tuesday, April 14 to play a single game against Pittsburg State University. First pitch is set to be thrown at 3:00 p.m. from Dodson Field.