Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (LEBANON, Ill., March 9)—For the first time since the end of the 2010 season, the McKendree University baseball team sits above the .500 mark in the win-loss column.
 
On Saturday at Hypes Field, the Bearcats swept both ends of a non-conference doubleheader with Culver-Stockton College. McKendree scored an unearned run in the bottom of the 11^th inning of game one to grab a 2-1 victory before rolling to an 11-6 win in the nightcap.
 
With the victories, the Bearcats improve to 3-2 overall. McKendree last enjoyed a record above the .500 mark at the end of the 2010 season, when the Bearcats closed the year at 29-24.
 
A pair of freshman pitchers combined to hold Culver-Stockton to just two hits in the opener. Right-hander Matt Sax (Chicago, IL/Jones Prep) tossed the first seven innings, giving up one unearned run on just two hits. Sax walked three and struck out two. He did not allow the Wildcats a hit until the fifth inning. Left-hander Josh Tonozzi (Mark, IL/Putnam County) retired all 12 batters he faced, striking out four in his four innings of work to earn his first collegiate victory on the mound.
 
McKendree grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Sophomore infielder Blake Abbott (Peoria, IL/Dunlap) walked with one out, and sophomore outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) followed with a single to left field. Abbott moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored thanks to an RBI infield single by sophomore infielder Jeff Tolliver (Salem, IL/Salem).
 
Culver-Stockton (6-9) tied the game with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. The Wildcats' Edikson Zaro reached on a two-out, two-base error, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single by Danny Carroll.
 
The game remained scoreless until the Bearcats pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 11^th inning. Abbott reached on an error to start the frame, moved to second on a groundout by Rutledge and advanced to third on another groundout by sophomore infielder Jacob Kline. Tolliver brought Abbott home with the winning run on another error by the Wildcats.
 
In game two, McKendree found its offensive footing by producing a season-best 12 hits and 11 runs. After Culver-Stockton grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Bearcats took the lead for good thanks to a four-run outburst in the second inning. McKendree strung together four straight hits in tying the game at 2-2. Tolliver and senior first baseman Rob Beatty (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) led off with consecutive singles before sophomore Craig Dalman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) doubled down the left-field line to score Tolliver with the first run of the frame. Senior outfielder Pat Thole (Carlyle, IL/Breese Central) delivered Beatty with a run-scoring single to knot the contest.
 
On ball four of a walk to senior catcher Tom Collins (Collinsville, IL/Metro East Lutheran), Dalman came in to score on a passed ball by the Culver-Stockton catcher. Thole later scored on an RBI groundout by junior outfielder Tony Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) to close out the inning.
 
Culver-Stockton trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the top of the third inning before McKendree responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Thole produced another run-scoring single before junior catcher Tyler Collins (Marietta, GA/Walker) came up as a pinch-hitter and ripped a two-run single to center field, giving the Bearcats a 7-3 advantage.
 
After McKendree added two more runs in the fourth inning for a 9-3 lead, sophomore infielder Pierce Borah (Mt. Vernon, IL/Mt. Vernon) provided the final runs of the day for the Bearcats with a two-run home run down the left-field line in the fifth inning for an 11-3 advantage. Culver-Stockton rallied with three runs in the sixth inning but could not get any closer.
 
Thole finished the game with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI. Borah, Tolliver and Beatty each added a pair of hits in the effort for McKendree.
 
For the second time in as many days, junior right-hander Jon Trampe (Collinsville, IL/Metro East Lutheran) picked up the mound victory out of the bullpen. In 2 2/3 innings of work, Trampe allowed just two hits and struck out four batters.