Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (LEBANON, Ill., May 4)—On the day before the McKendree University baseball team says farewell to its five seniors, the Bearcats relied on some familiar underclassmen to post a doubleheader sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan College on Saturday at Hypes Field. The Bearcats rolled to a 6-0 win in game one before rallying to steal a 2-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
McKendree pushed its win streak to three games to move to 21-23 overall and 15-19 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats will wrap up their 2013 season on Sunday at noon when they host the Panthers for another GLVC doubleheader. Between games, McKendree will honor its five seniors appearing in their final games with the Bearcats' program: first baseman Rob Beatty (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West), catcher Tom Collins (Collinsville, IL/Metro East Lutheran), pitcher Ryan Ryterski (Nashville, IL/Nashville), outfielder Pat Thole (Carlyle, IL/Breese Central) and pitcher Ricky Weber (Marissa, IL/Marissa).
 
Junior right-hander Ben Dallesasse (DeKalb, IL/DeKalb) saved his best outing of the 2013 season for his final one as he tossed a complete-game three-hitter against Kentucky Wesleyan. Dallesasse walked three and struck out a season-high six batters while limiting the Panthers to just three singles over nine innings. It was the longest outing of Dallesasse's career and his second career shutout. The other came in a 6-0 victory back on March 3, 2012 at Drury University.
 
Sophomore outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) provided the game two heroics to help McKendree finish off the sweep. Rutledge stepped up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Bearcats trailing 1-0. Rutledge then then drilled a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run, walk-off single to enable McKendree to escape with the come-from-behind win.
 
Junior shortstop Tony Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) wielded a hot bat for McKendree with five hits on the day, including three in the nightcap. Freshman left-hander Josh Tonozzi (Mark, IL/Putnam County) battled on the mound to collect his first complete-game victory in game two, scattering 11 hits with four strikeouts as he improved to 4-3 on the year.
 
In game one, McKendree scored two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings to give Dallesasse more than enough runs to work with. Thole started the third inning with a single down the right-field line. Sophomore outfielder Bryce Harre (Nashville, IL/Nashville) came on as a pinch-runner and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore infielder Blake Abbott (Peoria, IL/Dunlap). Kossina reached on an infield single to put runners at first and third before Rutledge laced an RBI single to left-center to plate Harre with the first run of the contest. Beatty brought home Kossina with a sacrifice fly to give the Bearcats a two-run cushion.
 
Junior outfielder Kolton King (Marion, IL/Marion) and junior catcher Tyler Collins (Marietta, GA/Walker) led off the fourth inning with consecutive singles. Harre dropped down a sacrifice bunt that was mishandled by the Kentucky Wesleyan pitcher to load the bases. Abbott and Kossina each collected and RBI when they reached on back-to-back fielder's choices to add two more runs to the Bearcats' lead.
 
Collins provided the big hit in the fifth inning with a two-run triple to deep center field to stretch the Bearcats' lead to 6-0. Dallesasse carried McKendree home from there, allowing just one hit over the final four innings. Dallesasse was also helped by two double plays turned in the sixth and seventh innings, both of which were started by Abbott at second base.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan (15-31, 9-25 GLVC) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and made that lead stand until the bottom of the seventh inning. King drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh for the Bearcats. Freshman infielder Kegan Robbins (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) replaced King as a pinch-runner and moved to second when Thole dropped down a bunt single that came to rest on the chalk halfway down the first-base line.
 
Two batters later, following a Panthers' pitching change, Kossina reached on an infield single to load the bases with one out. Rutledge stepped to the plate and took two strikes before watching a curve ball in the dirt. Rutledge then drove the next pitch past the pitcher's mound into center field for a single. Robbins scored from third with the tying run, and Thole raced from second and beat the throw to the plate to bring home the winning run.
 
The sweep helped McKendree improve to 16-8 at home this season. The Bearcats are 11-5 in GLVC play at Hypes field in 2013.