McKendree University Athletics

Lance Marcum is considered by many to be the greatest pitcher to ever wear a baseball uniform at McKendree. He was the backbone of the Bearcats' rotation throughout his four-year career and helped the program continue its winning ways at the conference, regional and national level.

Originally recruited as a basketball and baseball player at McKendree, Lance chose to make
baseball his primary sport. That decision proved to be one that would help the Bearcats continue
their dominance of the American Midwest Conference. During Lance's career, McKendree recorded 172 victories along with four consecutive AMC Tournament championships along with a pair of regular-season league titles. McKendree also reached the NAIARegion V Championship during his junior year in 2005, when the Bearcats were just two games shy ofreaching the NAIA World Series.

Over his four years on the mound at McKendree, Lance won 38 games with 38 complete games, 11 shutouts and 361 strikeouts in 377 2/3 innings pitched. Those are just five of the 11 McKendree baseball records that Lance set during his career, all of which were still standing at the time of his induction. He is the only player to throw multiple no-hitters for the Bearcats, tossing two during his time on the mound for McKendree.

In each of his last three years, Lance was selected as the American Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Year, and was also a first-team All-Conference honoree during those years. Lance earned NAIA Region V Pitcher of the Year accolades as a junior and senior (2005 and 2006), and was a three-time All-Region choice from his sophomore through senior seasons. Nationally, Lance received first-team NAIAAlI-America honors in both 2005 and 2006.

Following his McKendree playing days, Lance signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He made 19 appearances for the Class A State College Spikes in the New York-Penn League.