(ROMEOVILLE, Ill., April 26)- The McKendree University softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader at Lewis University on Saturday 1-0 and 10-3.

The Bearcats fall to 17-29 overall and 10-22 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and will close out its season on Sunday, April 27 with a doubleheader at University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 12 p.m.

Game one was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when the host Flyers earned the win on a two-out RBI single to take game one 1-0.

McKendree had its best chance to get on the board in the fifth inning. Senior rightfielder Kay Koonce (Greenville, Ill./Greenville) opened the inning with a single and was moved to second on a sac bunt by senior leftfielder Caitlin Stredde (Pingree Grove, Ill./South Elgin). Following a flyout to centerfield, freshman second baseman Jamie Doggendorf (Dittmer, Mo./Northwest) was hit by a pitch and junior centerfielder Erica Johnson (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) was intentionally walked to load the bases, but the Bearcats ended the inning with a strikeout to end the inning.

Freshman third baseman Hanna Branch (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) had two hits to lead McKendree offensively, while junior pitcher Kelsie Stoszkus (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) fell to 7-9 and had one strikeout in the loss.

The Flyers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning in game two, but the Bearcats cut the lead in half with two runs in the seocnd inning. Lewis scored runs in four of its final five at bats of the game to earn the doubleheader sweep with a 10-3 win.

Trailing 4-0 after the first inning, McKendree cut the deficit to 4-2 following a two-run home run by Koonce. The roundtripper was the first by Koonce in her collegiate career.

Lewis added another run in the bottom of the second, but the Bearcats struck again in the fourth inning. Senior first baseman Morgan Schulte (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) sent a pitch over the right field fence, her second of the season, to cut the score to 5-3.

The Flyers scored two runs in the fourth and fifth innings and added a single run in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 10-3. McKendree was unable to generate any runs late in the game to drop the second game of the day.

Four Bearcats had hits in the game, and junior pitcher Susan Goetze (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) fell to 4-8 with the loss.