(LEBANON, Ill., March 12)— The McKendree College baseball team left town for their spring road trip on a good note Monday afternoon, after defeating Viterbo University 17-7 in seven innings, after ending the game with back-to-back-to-back homeruns.

 

McKendree improves to 4-8-1 on the season and will play University of Tennessee-Martin tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.

 

The Bearcats showed their hot bats early, with Chris Bellm (Highland, Ill./Highland) (Highland, Ill./Highland), Craig Session (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) (Centralia, Ill./Centralia), and Dusty Schallenberg (New Douglas, Ill./Highland) (New Douglas, Ill./Highland) all hitting homeruns and Kevin Wilkins (Kinmundy, Ill./South Central) (Kinmundy, Ill./South Central) hitting an RBI double to take an early 7-0 lead. The V-Hawks would come back in the top of the second, scoring five runs on four hits and two errors.

 

The Bearcats would score three more times in the bottom of the second, building their lead to 10-5. Both teams had a scoreless third inning, but the V-Hawks chipped away at the Bearcats lead by scoring two runs in the fourth inning, but RBI singles from Todd Harpstrite (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) and Schallenberg, and an RBI double from Brandon Melliere (Red Bud, Ill./Red Bud) (Red Bud, Ill./Red Bud) would make the score 13-7.

 

The Bearcats would score again in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Mike Harrison (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) would score on a Craig Session (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) grounded out to the second baseman. The Bearcats ended the game with back-to-back-to-back homeruns by Joe Dickman (Alhambra, Ill./Highland) (Alhambra, Ill./Highland), Session, and Kenny Weston (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) (Dupo, Ill./Dupo), making the score 17-7, and ending the game with a ten-run rule.

 

Weston was 4-5 on the day with 3 RBI’s and a homerun, while Session was 2-4, with 4 RBI’s and two homeruns. Bellm, Dickman, and Schallenberg also homered.

 

Adam Buehne (St. Rose, Ill./Breese Central) (St. Rose, Ill./Breese Central) picked up the win for the Bearcats, improving to 1-1 on the season.