(LEBANON, Ill., April 22)- The McKendree University softball team earned a doubleheader sweep over Benedictine University-Springfield on Friday to close out its regular season schedule.

The Bearcats improved to 26-19 overall and will host an American Midwest Conference tournament opening round series on Friday, April 29th. The tournament pairings will be announced by the afternoon of April 25th.

An RBI single by sophomore catcher Emily Mouyard (Johnson City, Ill., Johnson City HS) scored junior outfielder Kari Frazier (Lebanon, Ill., Lebanon HS) to put McKendree up 1-0 in the third inning, and an RBI double by Mouyard in the fifth gave the Bearcats a 3-0 lead and the eventual win.

Junior pitcher BethAnn Swartz (Urbana, Ill., Urbana HS) pitched a complete game, shutout, and struck out eight with no walks to improve to 9-10 overall on the season. Mouyard led the Bearcats in game one with two hits and three RBI.

McKendree gave up three runs in the top of the first inning, but rebounded to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the second inning of game two. Senior outfielder Jamie Corbier (O'Fallon, Ill., O'Fallon Township HS) drew a bases loaded walk to score the first run and senior second baseman Ashley Parrott (Belleville, Ill., Belleville West HS) hit a bases loaded single to score cut the deficit to one.

The Bearcats exploded for five runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-3 lead. Freshman shortstop Kendyll Koester (Lebanon, Ill., Lebanon HS) led off the inning with a double, and freshman outfielder Caitlin Stredde (Elgin, Ill., South Elgin HS) followed with an RBI triple to tie the game, 3-3. Stredde scored one play later on a routine ground ball to take a 4-3 lead, and after loading the bases, McKendree got the wheels turning to add three more runs and lead 7-3. The Bulldogs made things interesting in the sixth inning by adding three runs to make the score 7-6, but the Bearcats held on to earn the victory.

Freshman pitcher Heather Deering (Breese, Ill., Mater Dei Catholic HS) earned the win and struck out five to improve to 3-3 overall. Five players had multiple hits for McKendree in the win.