Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (ROLLA, Mo., March 15)—The McKendree University baseball team made its Great Lakes Valley Conference debut on Friday at Missouri S & T and dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the host Miners. Missouri S & T rolled to a 13-0 win in the opener before rallying with four runs in its last at-bat to grab a 9-8 victory in the nightcap.
 
The losses snapped McKendree's five-game win streak. The Bearcats slip to 5-4 overall and 0-2 in the GLVC. McKendree and Missouri S & T will wrap up their four-game weekend series with another doubleheader on Saturday in Rolla, Mo. First pitch is set for noon.
 
After Missouri S & T's Chris Bowe tossed a complete-game four-hit shutout in Friday's opener, McKendree struck early in game two to grab a 1-0 lead. Junior infielder Tony Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) led off the contest with a single and came around to score on a double down the right-field line by sophomore infielder Jeff Tolliver (Salem, IL/Salem). The Miners tied the game with a run in the second inning before the Bearcats regained a 4-1 advantage in the top of the third inning. Sophomore outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) drove in the first run of the frame with a one-out RBI single. Two batters later, sophomore infielder Jeff Kline lifted a fly ball that was misplayed by the Miners' outfield, scoring two more runs to stretch the Bearcats' lead to three runs.
 
Missouri S & T (3-7, 2-0 GLVC) responded with three runs in the bottom of the third inning and another tally in the fourth inning to take its first lead of the contest at 5-4. In the fifth inning, McKendree scored three times to take the lead once again at 7-5. Sophomore infielder Blake Abbott (Peoria, IL/Dunlap) led off with a single, Rutledge walked and Tolliver singled to load the bases with nobody out. A run-scoring single by Kline knotted the score at 5-5.
 
Sophomore first baseman Craig Dalman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) broke the deadlock when he grounded into a fielder's choice to score Rutledge with the go-ahead run for a 6-5 McKendree advantage. Junior catcher Tyler Collins (Marietta, GA/Walker) capped the outburst with a sacrifice fly to bring home Tolliver with the final run of the inning.
 
 Kossina delivered an RBI double in the sixth inning to stretch the Bearcats' advantage to 8-5, which was the score heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. McKendree needed three more outs to pick up their first GLVC victory, but Missouri S & T broke loose for four runs in the frame to walk off with the doubleheader sweep.
 
Kossina had three of the Bearcats' 10 hits in game two. He also scored a pair of runs. Tolliver chipped in with a pair of hits, while Rutledge scored twice in the contest. Junior right-hander Jon Trampe (Collinsville, IL/Metro East Lutheran) was nicked for the loss in relief for McKendree. In 2 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen, Trampe allowed three earned runs on two hits with three walks and a strikeout and slipped to 3-1 on the year.
 
Missouri S & T had just eight hits in its 13-run outburst in game one, but took advantage of eight walks from three different McKendree pitchers. The Miners scored in all but one of their six at-bats, including an eight-run uprising in the sixth inning. Sophomore outfielder Bryce Harre (Nashville, IL/Nashville) had the Bearcats' lone extra-base hit in the opener, a double in the third inning.