OZARK, Mo.— Quincy scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break an 8-8 tie and advanced past Drury with an 11-8 win in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament on Saturday at US Baseball Park in Ozark.
 
The loss dropped the fifth-seeded Panthers to 30-23 and ended their tournament run while Quincy, the number one seed in the tournament, improved to 32-18 and moved on to play later tonight against Bellarmine.
 
Drury trailed 3-0 after three innings but grabbed the lead with five runs in the fourth. The Panthers got RBI singles from Brandt Ollinger and Cole Dunham, then Brant Schaffitzel drove in two with a triple. Clayton Engel sent Schaffitzel home with a base hit to give Drury a 5-3 lead.
 
Quincy answered with four runs in the top of the fifth capped by a three-run home run by Jeff Hightower, and the Hawks took the lead back, 7-5.
 
Clayton Engel gave Drury the lead again with a three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth. The home run was his 10th of the year and gave the Panthers an 8-7 advantage going into the late innings.
 
Quincy's Cody Birdsong tied the game with a solo homer in the eighth, and the Hawks took the lead for good in the ninth scoring three times taking advantage of a ground ball, Drury's sixth error of the game, and an RBI single by Michael Nielson.
 
"We pitched it well, but we had too many miscues," said Drury head coach Scott Nasby. "With a power-hitting team like Quincy, if you give them a few more guys on the bases and a few more pitches, then they're going to get better as the game goes along. Give them a lot of credit, but I'm disappointed that we weren't able to play better defense."
 
Senior reliever Alex Austin (4-4) took the loss for Drury while Sam Stephens (2-1) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to get the win for Quincy.
 
Engel went 3 for 5 with a double, home run, and four runs batted in to lead Drury's offense. Schaffitzel was 2 for 4 with two runs, a walk, a triple and two RBI's.
 
"I'm proud of this team," added Nasby. "Whether the season is over now, or whether we get a chance to play beyond, they fight all of the time. We just have to make sure that we control the fundamentals and control big innings moving forward."
 
Drury entered the GLVC tournament ranked sixth in the Midwest Region and will now wait to see if they stayed ranked high enough to earn a spot to the NCAA-II tournament. Eight teams from the Midwest Region will advance to the NCAA-II tournament with three automatic bids from conference champions while five teams will receive an at-large berth. The national championship bracket will be announced on Sunday at 9 pm (Central).
 
 
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