Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (LEBANON, Ill., April 6)—The McKendree University baseball team rode the combination of solid starting pitching and timely hitting to a doubleheader sweep Saturday at home against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Bearcats posted a 7-0 win game one before rolling to an 8-2 victory in the nightcap.
 
McKendree improves to 13-11 overall and evened its record in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at 8-8. The Bearcats are now 11-3 in home contests this season, including a perfect 6-0 mark in conference action. McKendree and Wisconsin-Parkside will meet for another GLVC twinbill Sunday at noon in Lebanon.
 
A pair of freshmen collected wins on the mound for the Bearcats in Saturday's doubleheader. Left-hander Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) allowed seven hits over eight innings with five strikeouts in game one. Lidisky remained perfect on the season as he improved to 4-0 overall.
 
Right-hander Matt Sax (Chicago, IL/Jones Prep) came up one out shy of his first collegiate complete game, giving up seven hits and two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings of the nightcap. Sax struck out three batters as he moved to 2-1 overall.
 
At the plate, McKendree collected 22 hits on the day, with double-digit efforts in each contest. Sophomore infielder Jeff Tolliver (Salem, IL/Salem) had four hits on the day, including three in the opener. Tolliver also blasted one of the Bearcats' three home runs against the Rangers. Sophomore outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) was 4-for-4 in the nightcap to post his second four-hit contest in the last eight days.
 
McKendree jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning of game one. Sophomore infielder Pierce Borah (Mt. Vernon, IL/Mt. Vernon) started the rally with a one-out single, and senior outfielder Pat Thole (Carlyle, IL/Breese Central) followed with a double. Junior catcher Tyler Collins (Marietta, GA/Walker) drove home Borah with the first run thanks to an RBI bloop double to center field.  A walk to sophomore infielder Blake Abbott (Peoria, IL/Dunlap) loaded the bases before junior shortstop Tony Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) drilled a two-run single to center field to give McKendree a three-run advantage.
 
Collins blasted his first home run of the season in the fourth inning to stretch the Bearcats' lead to 4-0. McKendree struck for its final three runs of the opener in the eighth inning. Sophomore outfielder Bryce Harre (Nashville, IL/Nashville) opened the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abbott and scored on a Wisconsin-Parkside error. Tolliver closed the outburst with his second home run of the year, a two-run shot over the left-field fence.
 
The Bearcats produced all of their offense in game two in the first two innings, scoring four runs in each frame. Rutledge got things going in the first inning with a one-out infield single. Tolliver stepped up next and drilled an RBI double to the right-center field gap that scored Rutledge with the first run of the contest. After sophomore infielder Jake Kline (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) singled, senior first baseman Rob Beatty (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) stepped up and belted a three-run home run to left field to give McKendree a 4-0 lead.
 
Nine batters came to the plate in the second inning as McKendree scored four more times to build an 8-0 advantage. Senior catcher Tom Collins (Collinsville, IL/Metro East Lutheran) opened the frame with a single. Kossina was hit by a pitch before Rutledge doubled home Collins to open the scoring. A walk to Tolliver loaded the bases before Kline was hit by a pitch to force home Rutledge for a 6-0 Bearcat lead.
 
Junior catcher Kolton King (Marion, IL/Marion) produced a sacrifice fly and Abbott added an RBI double to end the outburst to give McKendree an eight-run lead.
 
Wisconsin-Parkside (0-14, 0-12 GLVC) finally broke through against Sax in the fourth inning as they scored a run to pull within 8-1 and later added their final run in the seventh inning. The tally by the Rangers in the fourth ended McKendree's streak of consecutive shutout innings at home at 29. The Bearcats had not allowed a run at Hypes Field since the seventh inning of a 7-4 win over William Jewell College back on March 23. McKendree had posted three straight shutouts at home over that span.