(ROMEOVILLE, Ill., April 3)- The McKendree University softball team posted a shutout in game one, but was unable to finish a late rally in game two to split a doubleheader at Lewis University on Friday.

The Bearcats are now 12-20 overall and 4-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and will travel north to Somers, Wis., on Saturday, April 3 to face University of Wisconsin-Parkside for a GLVC doubleheader at Noon.

Game one was scoreless for three innings before McKendree scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings to earn a 3-0 win. A single with two runners on by Lindsay Schmitz (Streator, Ill./Streator Township) gave the Bearcats their first run in the fourth inning when Ashley Scheffler (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) came in from third to take a 1-0 lead. McKendree added to its lead in the fifth inning on a throwing error by the third baseman that allowed Rebecca Franke (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) to score from third, and Scheffler came in to score on a single by Kate Mayes (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville) later in the inning to extend the lead out to 3-0. Kelsie Stoszkus (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) only allowed two hits in the final two innings and struck out four in the game to improve to 5-4 on the season with the win.

The Bearcats trailed 5-0 heading into the fifth inning and rallied over the final three innings, but lost game two 7-4. Jamie Doggendorf (Dittmer, Mo./Northwest) scored on a sac fly by Erica Johnson (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) in the fifth inning to get McKendree on the scoreboard trailing 5-1. Lewis added two runs in the sixth inning to extend its lead to7-1, but the Bearcats added another run in the sixth inning on a wild pitch that allowed Hanna Branch (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) to score from third. A two-out, two-run home run by Katie Nauman (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) cut the score to 7-4, but McKendree was unable to score any additional runs to fall in game two. Brooke Gajewksi had two strikeouts and fell to 4-6 overall in the loss, while Nauman led the way at the plate with her homer, two RBI and a run scored.