Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (RENSSALAER, Ind., April 18)—The McKendree University baseball team continued its eight-game road trip Friday by opening a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at Saint Joseph's College. The Bearcats and Pumas split the twinbill with McKendree taking the first game 7-5 before Saint Joseph's bounced back to grab a 3-1 triumph in the nightcap.
 
The split leaves the Bearcats with a 13-22 overall record and an 8-18 mark in GLVC play. McKendree and Saint Joseph's will close out their four-game weekend series Saturday with another doubleheader at Gil Hodges Field. First pitch is set for noon.
 
In the game one win, McKendree benefitted offensively from three-run outbursts in the first and eighth innings. On the mound, senior right-hander Ben Dallesasse (DeKalb, IL/DeKalb) pitched into the ninth inning to collect his team-leading fourth win of the season.
 
McKendree needed just three batters in the first inning of the opener to take an early lead. Senior shortstop Tony Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) led off with a single, stole second base and advanced to third when the catcher's throw reached the outfield. Junior third baseman Jake Kline (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) then put the Bearcats on the scoreboard when he drove in Kossina with an RBI single. Freshman infielder Zach Clockowski followed with a single, and the pair came around to score thanks to a two-out, two-run single off the bat of junior infielder Pierce Borah (Mt. Vernon, IL/Mt. Vernon). That staked McKendree to a 3-0 lead after one-half inning of play.
 
Saint Joseph's (16-23, 11-15 GLVC) answered with a run in the bottom of the first before the Bearcats lated another tally in the second. Freshman outfielder Jay Roberts (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North) and Kossina opened the frame with consecutive singles. After each advanced a base following a sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Steven Todoschuk (Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada/Saltfleet), Kline drove in his second run of the game when he delivered Roberts with a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 McKendree lead.
 
The Pumas tied the game with two runs in the fourth inning and another in the fifth for a 4-4 deadlock. McKendree then took control thanks to a three-run uprising in the top of the eighth inning. Junior first baseman Jeff Tolliver (Salem, IL/Salem) reached on a one-out, three-base error, and freshman outfielder Grant Anderson (Mackinaw, IL/Deer Creek-Mackinaw) replaced Tolliver as a pinch-runner. Borah reached on a walk, and Anderson scored the go-ahead run at 5-4 when freshman catcher Kyle Jackson (Hoffman, IL/Carlyle) grounded into a fielder's choice.
 
McKendree eventually loaded the bases before Todoschuk provided two big insurance runs with a two-run double to cap the inning.
 
Dallesasse pushed his pitch count to 107 before leaving with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the tying run at the plate for Saint Joseph's. Sophomore right-hander came in for Dallesasse and allowed a sacrifice fly that trimmed the Pumas' deficit to 7-5 before striking out the final batter to notch his first save of the year. Dallesasse scattered 10 hits in 8 1/3 innings of work with three earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
 
Kossina, Roberts and junior outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) each had two hits in the Bearcats' 11-hit attack in game one.
 
Game two was a scoreless duel heading into the bottom of the fifth when Saint Joseph's scratched out a run to take a 1-0 lead. McKendree answered by tying the contest in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Kossina dropped a bunt single down the third base line. Kossina reached second base on a wild pitch and moved to third on a flyout by Kline. Rutledge then reached on a Pumas' error to bring Kossina home with the tying run.
 
The momentum was short-lived as Saint Joseph's scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to grab the lead for good at 3-1. A two-out error brought the tying run to the plate, but the Pumas held on to earn the doubleheader split. McKendree had just two hits in the game, with Kline adding a fourth-inning double along with Kossina's bunt single in the sixth.
 
Sophomore lefty Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) went the distance in taking the loss for McKendree. Lidisky allowed three runs on six hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts in the nightcap.