Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (ROMEOVILLE, Ill., March 28)—The McKendree University baseball team lost a pair of games to open a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series on Saturday at Lewis University. The teams needed 12 innings in the opener before the host Flyers prevailed 9-8. Lewis then grabbed a 4-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
The Bearcats move to 3-15 overall and 2-8 in GLVC play after Saturday's contests. McKendree and Lewis will wrap up their weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday, with first pitch coming at noon.
 
Sophomore first baseman Zach Klockowski (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) wielded the big bat on the day for McKendree with five hits, including three in the opener. Klockowski also drove in a pair of runs. Freshman outfielder Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy) added three hits in game one, while senior third baseman Jake Kline (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) had a pair of doubles in the 12-inning affair.
 
McKendree jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one. Junior shortstop Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) led off with a single before senior outfielder Kyle Rutledge (Bloomington, IL/Normal) added a one-out infield hit. Kline stepped up next and ripped a run-scoring double to right field, scoring Kunkel with the first run of the contest. Klockowski then brought Rutledge home with a two-out, RBI single.
 
Lewis (8-10, 4-6 GLVC) answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead. That score stood until the fifth inning, when McKendree scored five times to regain the lead at 7-3. Kunkel drew a one-out walk and sophomore infielder Justin Becker (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) singled to start the uprising. Rutledge followed with an RBI single to bring home Kunkel and tie the game at 3-3.
 
After Kline drew a walk to load the bases, junior catcher Connor Davault (Farmington, MO/Farmington) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to put the Bearcats back in front at 4-3. Another RBI single off the bat of Klockowski scored Rutledge, and Kline came home on a Lewis error on the play. Sophomore infielder Tyson Boehne (Carlyle, IL/Carlyle) capped the rally with a run-scoring single to place Klockowski.
 
The Bearcats added a single run in the top of the seventh inning to extend its margin to 8-3. Klockowski singled with two outs and scored thanks to an RBI triple by Groleau. Lewis responded quickly with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the eighth to tie the game at 8-8 and force extra innings.
 
McKendree's best threat to score in the extra frames came in the 11^th inning, when the Bearcats put two runners on with two outs, but the Flyers wiggled out of the jam. Lewis eventually won the game in the bottom of the 12^th when Chris Pikoulas drew a bases-loaded walk to force home the winning run.
 
Sophomore right-hander Jacob Renfrow (St. Louis, MO/Hancock) scattered eight hits and allowed five earned runs over seven innings in the start on the mound for McKendree. Freshman righty Blake Deatherage (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) was nicked for the loss in relief.
 
In game two, the Bearcats were held in check by Lewis senior right-hander Eann Cox, who tossed a complete-game three-hitter. All three hits for McKendree were singles, including two off the bat of Klockowski. Cox did not walk a batter and struck out three. Lewis broke a scoreless tie with a run in the third inning, two more in the fourth and an insurance tally in the sixth inning.
 
Junior left-hander Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) gave up two earned runs on 10 hits as he was charged with the loss in game two for McKendree.