Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 (LEBANON, Ill., March 16)—The McKendree University baseball team closed out its four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series on Monday against the University of Missouri-St. Louis by dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Hypes Field. The Bearcats fell in the opener 5-1 before the Tritons rallied to grab a 13-11 win in the nightcap.
McKendree moves to 1-10 overall and 0-4 in GLVC play. The Bearcats will step out of league play on Wednesday to host Maryville University in a nine-inning affair. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
Senior infielder
Jake Kline (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) had three hits on the day for McKendree, including a pair in game two. Senior infielder
Pierce Borah (Mt. Vernon, IL/Mt. Vernon) collected a hit in each contest while sophomore infielder
Tyson Boehne (Carlyle, IL/Carlyle) produced three hits in the nightcap. Junior shortstop
Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) and sophomore catcher
Kyle Jackson (Hoffman, IL/Carlyle) each had two hits in the second game against the Tritons.
UMSL (8-0, 4-0 GLVC) built a 3-0 lead in game one with single runs in the first, third and fifth innings. The Tritons then tallied twice in the top of the seventh inning before McKendree put together a rally in the bottom of the frame. Senior outfielder
Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) led off with a walk, junior catcher
Connor Davault (Farmington, MO/Farmington) was hit by a pitch and Kline singled to center field to load the bases. Three batters later, Borah drew a walk to force home Rutledge to get the Bearcats on the scoreboard. The Tritons then brought in their closer, Austin Simokaitis, to record the last out with the tying run at the plate.
McKendree junior right-hander
John Tolliver (Salem, IL/Salem) went the distance on the mound in taking the game one loss. Tolliver allowed four earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts.
Game two turned into a slugfest as the teams combined for 24 runs on 26 hits. McKendree grabbed its first lead of the day in the second inning thanks to a two-out rally. Jackson drew a walk and Boehne singled before sophomore outfielder
Jay Roberts (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North) drove Jackson home with an RBI single.
Missouri-St. Louis answered with five runs in the top of the third to grab a 5-1 lead before McKendree put together its biggest offensive outburst of the season. The Bearcats sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring nine runs to regain a 10-5 advantage. Kline started the scoring in the frame with an RBI double before freshman infielder
Zach Klockowski (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) ripped a two-run single to left field to cut the McKendree deficit to 5-4. Jackson tied the game at 5-5 with a run-scoring single before Boehne pushed the Bearcats in front at 6-5 with another RBI base hit.
McKendree loaded the bases for Kunkel, who delivered a two-run single up the middle to boost the Bearcats' lead to 8-5. Another run scored on a throwing error before Kline wrapped up the rally with an RBI single to put McKendree up by five runs.
The Tritons rallied to tie the game at 10-10 with three runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth. McKendree loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth when Roberts drew a one-out walk to force home Klockowski with the go-ahead run to push the Bearcats out to an 11-10 lead.
The score stood until the top of the ninth inning, when UMSL scored three times off three McKendree pitchers to rally for the victory. Freshman right-hander
Blake Deatherage (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) was nicked for the loss in relief, allowing three earned runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings on the mound.
