QUINCY, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team dropped the first game of its four-game weekend series at Quincy, 12-5 on Friday afternoon at QU Baseball Stadium in Quincy, Ill. The Tritons drop to 9-12, 3-2 GLVC while the Hawks improve to 18-7, 7-2 GLVC.

Quincy jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings of play. Ben Dahlof led off the game with a home run to left field. The Hawks hit two home runs in a three-run third as Jace Figuereo hit a two-run homer to right and Payton Mansfield hit a solo shot to center.

Quincy got a sacrifice fly from Figuero with the bases loaded in the fourth to extend its lead.

UMSL rallied in the fifth to pull within a run. LJ Randle started the rally working a two-out walk and then scored on Justin Terhaar's two-run home run to left. After a single by Justin Simard, Mitch Bonczkowski made it a one-run contest with two-run shot to center.

The Hawks got a two-out double from Patrick Mendiola that scored Carson Moreno and Isaiah Fudge to make it 7-4.

Bonczkowski brought the Tritons to within 7-5 with a two-out single to center in the seventh scoring Terhaar. UMSL had the go-ahead run at the plate but Garrett Strenger lined out to left to end the inning.

Quincy tacked on some insurance runs scoring five runs in its half of the seventh. Moreno hit a two-run home run to left to make it 9-5. Mendiola scored on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt and then Dahlof and Figuereo each brought home a run for the final margin.

UMSL was held to eight hits in the contest led by Bonczkowski and Simard with two each. Terhaar, Jimi Oguntuase, Ethan Landis and Randle had a hit apiece. Will O'Gorman got the start on the mound pitching the first three innings giving up four runs on five hits and walked three to fall to 0-2 on the season.

The Tritons and Hawks continue their series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at noon at QU Baseball Stadium.