QUINCY, Ill.- Drury split a doubleheader with Quincy on Friday in a battle of first place teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division as the Panthers lost game one 6-5 but won game two 9-4 in Quincy, Illinois.
 
The two teams stayed deadlocked in the division race as Drury goes to 24-10 and 10-4 in the league while Quincy's record moved to 21-12 and 10-4.
 
A Panthers comeback effort fell short in the first game in the 6-5 loss. Drury trailed 5-1 but scored a run in the seventh, a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to pull within a run of the lead. In the top of the ninth, Devan O'Bryan drove in a run with a RBI double and he later scored on a single by Caleb Essick. Essick's hit came with no outs but the Hawks retired the next three Drury batters leaving the tying run stranded at the end of the game.
 
Ryan Colombo suffered his first loss of the season and it was Drury's first loss in a game he started on the mound. Colombo fell to 7-1 despite striking out nine batters in seven innings of work. He allowed five runs on five hits.  
 
Spraker Graham (4-3) got the win for Quincy going 7.1 innings allowing 10 hits, three runs and one earned run with no walks and eight strikeouts.
 
Essick led the Panthers for going 3 for 5 at the plate with a run batted in.
 
Drury bounced back to win game two 9-4. With the scored tied 2-2 in the fourth, the Panthers took the lead for good on a Clayton Engel double that drove in two runs. Drury added three more runs in the fifth and went up 9-3 in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Nic Perkins.
 
Garrett Woods (5-2) got the complete game win going seven innings allowing eight hits and four runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.
 
Engel went 2 for 3 with a run, a double and three RBI's. Perkins and Ryan Kayhill were both 2 for 4 with a RBI.
 
The four game series continues Saturday with a noon start to the doubleheader in Quincy, Illinois.
 

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