(LEBANON, Ill., April 2)—McKendree University baseball coach Jim Boehne reached another milestone on Saturday when the Bearcats picked up a doubleheader split at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, Ark.
Boehne earned his 500th career victory with McKendree's 7-4 victory in game two. Boehne, who is now in his 14th season at the helm of the Bearcats' program, has a career record of 500-272-4. He is the all-time wins leader in McKendree baseball history.
“It's definitely an honor,” said Boehne after the game. “It means I've been around awhile, but it also means we've had success here at McKendree. It means we have had a lot of good people involved in our program. (Assistant coach) Brad Oster has been with me for 13 years, and (assistant coach) Dusty Kantner has been here almost as long, first as a player and now as a coach. We've also had a lot of good players who have integrated into our system and have had success.”
McKendree, now 15-19 overall and 7-5 in the American Midwest Conference, dropped Saturday's first game by a 4-3 score and trailed 3-0 after the first inning of game two. The Bearcats scored in each of the last four innings in the nightcap. A two-out RBI double by senior infielder Andy Kuehn (Mascoutah, IL/Mascoutah) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) in the fourth inning started the comeback for McKendree. The Bearcats then cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fifth thanks to a run-scoring single off the bat of junior infielder Brandon Gargus (Manchester, MO/Parkway South) (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South).
In the sixth inning, McKendree grabbed the lead for good by scoring a pair of unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead. Senior catcher Kyle Moll (Mascoutah, IL/Mascoutah) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) drew a bases-loaded walk to force home the tying run, and senior first baseman Dan Corwin (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet) (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet) followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to left field.
McKendree then sealed the victory with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. The big blow came off the bat of senior shortstop Daniel Solis (Chicago, IL/De La Salle) (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle), who stepped up with the bases loaded and ripped a two-run single up the middle.
Freshman right-hander Cole Wille (Maryville, IL/Collinsville) (Maryville, Ill./Collinsville) scattered seven hits over five innings and to earn his fourth consecutive victory on the mound for McKendree. Wille did not walk a batter and struck out three to push his record to 4-2 on the season.
Williams Baptist, which picked up its first AMC victory of the season with the game one win, is now 6-20 on the year and 1-13 in conference play. The Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener before McKendree tied the contest in the top of the third. Was the first Bearcats' batter to reach base when he singled with one out. Kuehn came around to score on a two-out single by Moll to even the game at 1-1. The Eagles responded by scoring runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to regain the lead at 3-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, McKendree used a two-out rally to score twice and tie the game once again at 3-3. Gargus reached base on a single before junior outfielder Brandyn Snider (Fielden, IL/Jersey Community) (Fieldon, Ill./Jersey Community) delivered an RBI double to bring the Bearcats within a run. Junior infielder Ronnie Calvird (Farmington, MO/Park Hills Central) (Farmington, Mo./Park Hills Central) followed with an RBI single to score Snider with the tying run.
However, Williams Baptist rallied with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the Bearcats' season-high four-game win streak.
The Bearcats will be at Lindenwood University for a non-conference game Tuesday at 2 p.m.
