GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at SOUTHERN INDIANA -- Friday, April 24, 2015 (DH), 1 and 4 p.m. -- Saturday, April 25, 2015 (DH), 2 and 5 p.m. -- Evansville, Ind.
LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
SOUTHERN INDIANA SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., April 23)--The McKendree University baseball team will hit the road for the final time in the 2015 regular season this weekend for a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series at the University of Southern Indiana. The weather forecast has caused some adjustments in the weekend schedule, as the teams will now play scheduled doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. The Friday twinbill is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday's contests are slated to begin at 2 p.m.
McKendree has not played since Tuesday, when it dropped a 12-8 non-conference decision at Maryville University in St. Louis. The Bearats trailed 6-0 before chipping away at the deficit over the final four innings. Sophomore catcher
Kyle Jackson (Hoffman, IL/Carlyle) had the hot bat at Maryville as he belted a three-run home run along with a bases-loaded double to drive in six runs against the Saints. Junior shortstop
Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) and sophomore first baseman
Zach Klockowski (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) also had two hits apiece in Tuesday's game.
The Bearcats are now 9-30 overall while they hold an 8-20 mark in GLVC play. Overall, McKendree is hitting .271 on the year, but has hit for a .285 clip in league contests. Sophomore outfielder
Grant Anderson (Mackinaw, IL/Deer Creek-Mackinaw) is the team's leading hitter in GLVC action with a .400 average. Klockowski and freshman outfielder
Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy) have each hit two home runs against conference foes, while Klockowski has driven in a team-best 18 runs in the league.
Junior left-hander
Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) has a team-high three victories on the mound, two of which have come on conference weekends. In four of Lidisky's GLVC starts, he has tossed a complete game. Freshman right-hander
Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg), who is the reigning GLVC Pitcher of the Week, leads the Bearcats' starting staff with a 2.91 earned-run average against the GLVC.
Following the weekend series at USI, McKendree will play its final six games of the 2015 regular season at Hypes Field. The Bearcats will entertain Quincy University for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday (April 29) at 1 p.m. before Bellarmine University rolls into town for a four-game league series next Saturday and Sunday (May 2-3).
ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANAThe Screaming Eagles have struggled to find consistency after winning the NCAA Division II baseball national championship last year. Southern Indiana is 17-19 overall and 13-15 in the GLVC. They hosted Oakland City University on Wednesday and slugged their way to a 15-10 victory. USI did drop three of four in their last GLVC action, which came last weekend at Lewis University.
Drake McNamara (.364) and Kyle Kempf (.355) are the top two hitters on the Screaming Eagles' roster, although McNamara has played in just 21 games this season. Kempf and Trent Gunn are tied for the team lead with four home runs, while Gunn has driven in a team-high 38 runs. Kempf is second in RBI race with 28 for USI.
On the mound, the Screaming Eagles are led by the combination of Matt Chavarria and Alex Holder. Chavarria is 4-3 on the season with a 1.60 ERA, which is tops among the starting rotation for Southern Indiana. He had a personal three-game win streak snapped at Lewis last weekend. Chavarria has also been credited with all three saves recorded by the Screaming Eagles this season. Holder is 4-0 overall with a 1.91 ERA and has won each of his last three starts, all of which have come in league play.
In last year's series between the two teams, McKendree handed Southern Indiana two of its 13 losses on the year. The Bearcats won the middle two games of the four-game set, 8-6 and 7-6, while the Screaming Eagles notched an 8-5 decision in 13 innings in the final game played between the two programs in 2014.
