Throughout all levels of baseball, postseason play is often filled with tightly-contested battles and timely hitting. The same could be said in Heartland baseball's second round matchup with fifth-seeded St. Johns River State College at the NJCAA DII World Series on Monday, as a Ben Hartl walk-off, two-run home run propelled the Hawks to a 5-4 victory at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Okla.
 
Hartl's long-ball came with no outs in the ninth after Gallien Coupet singled up the middle to begin the frame. St. Johns River State broke a 3-3 tie in the top-half of the ninth on an RBI single by Myles Liggans to make it 4-3 in favor of the Falcons. Moments later, a pickoff play by Hartl and shortstop Sam Antonacci with two Falcons on base resulted in two outs to limit the damage.
 
Bobby Atkinson ignited the scoring for the Hawks in the second inning, as the sophomore first baseman unloaded a deep fly to left field to give Heartland a 1-0 lead. St. Johns River State's Andon Lewis responded with a solo shot of his own in the fourth to tie things at 1-1. The Falcons would score once more in the fifth on a wild pitch to make it 2-1.
 
Heartland reliever Jacob Price would hold the Falcons scoreless in the sixth and seventh frames before a home run yet again the tied the game for the Hawks, this time from Daniel Mosele to make it 2-2 through seven innings. St. Johns River North took a 3-2 advantage in the eighth on a solo homer by Kaleb Freeman off of Heartland hurler Jake Jakubowski.
 
The Hawks were not rattled, however, as an Antonacci triple followed by an Atkinson run-scoring single tied the contest at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Jason Buhl received the start for the Hawks, as the Western Illinois commit tossed 4.2 frames and yielded two runs on one hit. Buhl also walked three and struck-out two. Jacob Price (2.1 innings, no runs, two hits, one strike-out) and Jakubowski (2.0 innings, two runs, two hits, one walk, one strikeout) were keys in limiting the damage out of the bullpen.
 
The top-seeded Hawks advance to a semifinal matchup against the winner of St. Johns River State and eighth-seeded Lackawanna College at 7:00 pm on Wednesday at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Okla.