(LEBANON, Ill. – MARCH 21) – The McKendree University baseball team dropped their home opener, 13-9, to the Indiana Institute of Technology Friday afternoon at Hypes Field.
The Bearcats, now 6-11 overall, will host College of the Ozarks for a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.
Both teams would battle back-and-forth in the early going, with Indiana Tech getting on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning off a double by catcher Will Richards to take a 1-0 lead. The Bearcats bounced right back in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on a solo home run by junior first baseman Calvin O'Rear (DuBois, Ill./Nashville) (Dubois, Ill./Nashville), his eighth of the season.
Both teams scored their lone runs in the second inning with hit batsmen with the bases loaded. Indiana Tech scored five runs over the next two innings to take a 7-2 lead in the top of the fourth. McKendree would come within two in the bottom of the fourth. A double by junior shortstop Dusty Schallenberg (New Douglas, Ill./Highland) (New Douglas, Ill./Highland) scored senior third baseman Todd Harpstrite (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) from first and Schallenberg himself scored on a single by sophomore second baseman Adam Davinroy (Shiloh, Ill./Althoff Catholic) (Shiloh, Ill./Althoff Catholic). Then O'Rear struck again, hitting a double to score Davinroy, making the score 7-5.
After a scoreless fifth inning, O'Rear hit his second double of the game in the bottom of the sixth to score Schallenberg and Harpstrite to tie the game, 7-7.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Warriors scored six runs on only three hits to take a commanding13-7 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Bearcats scored two runs on a double by Harpstrite, but a strikeout with two runner's on-base ended the game, 13-9.
Senior pitcher Tyler Mattmiller (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) fell to 0-2 on the season, giving up three hits and six runs, two earned, in two-thirds of an inning. At the plate, O'Rear was 3-5 with two doubles, four RBI, and a run scored and Schallenberg was 3-4 with a double two runs and an RBI.
-McK-
