| Tindall's first walk-off hit stretches Gems' winning streak to four games |
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Published: 6/3/2012 | Updated: 6/17/2013
By DON O'BRIEN
Herald-Whig Sports Editor
Nick Tindall was in a unique situation Saturday night. With the Quincy Gems' game with Danville knotted at 4 in the 10th inning on Saturday night, the Dans decided to walk Quincy first baseman Zach George in order to put runners on the corners with one out to pitch to Tindall, whose batting average had dipped to .182 after going hitless in his first three at-bats. Tindall, a catcher from Quincy University, wasn't offended though. He relished the opportunity, delivering a shot over the right fielder's head to bring home Caleb Howell with the game-winning run in a 5-4 triumph at QU-Stadium. "It's strange because that was the calmest I had been all night at the plate," said Tindall, whose walk-off hit was the first of his career. "I just told myself to stay on top of it and get the ball to the outfield and we'll win the ballgame. It all just clicked." Tindall took a mighty cut on the first pitch Dans reliever Troy McNickle offered up. "You have to get sidearm guys like that early," Tindall said. "I knew he was having problems getting his slider over for a strike. I sat dead-red fastball." Tindall's hit pushed the Gems' winning streak to four games after their season-opening loss to Hannibal. Working with a short roster, the Gems got a big lift from left-hander Zac Pearman. In need of a starter, Gems manager Chris Martin turned to Pearman. The Lindenwood product had just thrown 3 1/3 innings of relief in Thursday's win at Terre Haute. "Pearman was huge for us tonight," Martin said. "We were in a tight spot for a starter. He said he felt good. He deserved a better fate than he got tonight, but a couple of errors in the middle innings cost us." Danville (1-4) was in control for much of the game. The Dans pushed home two runs in the top of the third on a run-scoring ground out by Wes Minton and an RBI single by Wes Perkins. Quincy countered with a run in the bottom of the inning when Nick Day scored on Joe Kelch's ground-out to third base. The Gems tied the game with a run in the fifth -- Day scoring on Howell's two-out single to center field. Danville took advantage of two Gems errors with two outs in the top of the sixth. Day made a bad throw on a grounder to third to put runners at second and third. Ryan Black followed with a grounder to short that Kelch booted while trying to bare hand the ball, which allowed both runners to score. Quincy, which has just nine position players right now, scraped together two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Left fielder David Kuhne hit a shot to center field to lead off the inning that Dans center fielder Breck Kline just missed catching. Kuhne motored toward third and was awarded home when Minton's relay throw from shortstop flew over the Gems' dugout. Day then reached when he was hit by a pitch. He was sacrificed to second by Zac Zdanowicz and scored on a two-out single to left field by Kelch. "Our nine offensive guys are giving us everything they have right now," Martin said. Howell led off the 10th win a single and stole second. He was sacrificed to third by Kelch, which set up the walk to George. Tindall then hit a 1-1 pitch to win it. After Pearman struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings of work, Gems relievers Seth McWilliams and Bronson Smith held the Dans in check. McWilliams threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Smith bailed him out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth when he got Kline to ground out to shortstop. Smith tacked on two more scoreless innings to pick up his first win. Smith, a right-hander from Harding (Ark.) University, has a win and two saves to his credit already this season. "We're trying to grind it out until help arrives," Martin said. "There are three or four more guys who are supposed to be here (today)." Martin said the team might be without Howell for a short time next week. The center fielder from Eastern Illinois is dealing with some tendonitis in his left knee. Howell, who had two hits and an RBI Saturday, is leading the Prospect League in hitting with a .565 average. The Gems and Dans will wrap up a two-game series tonight at 6:35 at QU-Stadium. -- dobrien@whig.com/221-3365
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