BY JOSH HOUCHINS

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

Springfield Sliders manager Ryan Sawyers almost chuckled when the thought of a three-game sweep on the road came to fruition Friday night.

The Quincy Gems manager didn't feel as chipper.

"I told them what was obvious ... that we are just not playing well," said Gems manager Chris Martin following Springfield's completion of a three-games-in-two days sweep with a 3-2 win Friday night at QU-Stadium.

"I keep telling them there's no pressure. Our defense is atrocious. Not only are we not making the plays, but we're making our pitchers throw a ton of extra pitches. When you're down like this, the breaks don't go your way."

Said Sawyers, "Once we took two yesterday, our goals changed. We wanted to take all three then. But we also have to take things one game, pitch, at-bat at a time. The ball didn't bounce their way at times. We got lucky and got the right bounces."

The Sliders (15-4) seemingly got all the right bounces, but also capitalized on each one.

With four more errors Friday, Quincy committed a combined 10 errors the past two nights. During the current four-game losing skid, the Gems (7-10) have been outscored 22-9 and been outhit 29-22.

"I think you look around and see a lot of heads hanging," Gems first baseman Tyler Goodro said. "Someone has to take charge. It's tough to preserve a lead in any game, but that's when you have to keep pouring it on."

A Jon Myers two-run homer -- his Central Illinois Collegiate League-leading fifth of the season -- in the fourth inning gave the Gems a 2-0 lead.

It was the first time this season that Quincy has scored first at QU-Stadium.

But the Sliders came right back in the fifth.

An infield single with one out by Matt Lenski, followed by a walk and an error by second baseman Rob Merkle, allowed Springfield to load the bases to set up the scoring spurge.

Vicente Cafaro drew a bases-loaded walk off Quincy starter Brian Morrell to get the Sliders on the board.

Morrell sent Andrew Quinnette down on strikes to get one out away from getting out of fifth with the lead intact.

But Dennis Vaughn had different thoughts, as the lefty drove an 0-2 pitch off the right-field wall to score two and give the Sliders a 3-2 lead.

"It was frustrating," Martin said, "because they were feeling good and then it happened and I could see them think, 'Well, here we go again.'

"But that inning there was a couple of errors, a fly ball that I thought could have been caught, and also a potential double play that didn't happen. We just are not making plays."

Quincy struck back in the bottom of the fifth when Justin Dunning reached on a two-out error and advanced to third when nobody covered the base after the initial throw sailed near the Springfield dugout.

Back-to-back walks by Springfield starter Logan Mahon to Kenny Burns and Merkle loaded the bases for Alex Acheson.

But Mahon (3-0) got Acheson to fly out to right to end the threat.

"Sometimes, you're not going to blast your way to a victory and you have to do the little things to get the one-run wins," Sawyers said. "Tonight we handled the situation well and got the win."

Morrell (2-1) suffered the loss for Quincy, allowing one earned run on three hits over six innings. The Eastern Illinois pitcher needed 113 pitches to squeak through six.

The Gems head to Huntingburg, Ind. this weekend, where they kick off a two-game set with Dubois County tonight. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.