GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY
Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, 2 p.m. | LIVE STATS
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, 2 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016, Noon | LIVE STATS
All Games at Warren Turner Field, Joplin, Mo.
McKENDREE FINAL 2015 SEASON STATISTICS
MISSOURI SOUTHERN 2016 SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 18)--The McKendree University baseball team is set to begin its 2016 season with a three-game series in Joplin, Mo., against Missouri Southern State University. The Bearcats and Lions will tangle Friday and Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a noon contest on Sunday. Live statistics of all three games will be available on the
MSSU website. Saturday's game will feature a radio broadcast on
ESPN Radio Joplin.
McKendree head coach
Jim Boehne and his squad will look to rebound from a 9-39 season in 2015. The Bearcats went 8-28 against Great Lakes Valley Conference foes a year ago. McKendree will have six players back from last year's squad who started at least 20 games. That group includes sophomore outfielder
Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy), who was a second-team All-GLVC selection as he led the Bearcats with a .344 batting average, three home runs and 23 RBI. Among the other returning regulars include senior infielder
Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) (.272, 1 HR, 13 RBI), junior infielder
Tyson Boehne (Carlyle, IL/Carlyle) (.261, 13 RBI) and senior catcher
Connor Davault (Farmington, MO/Farmington) (.230, 10 RBI).
Newcomers expected to join the McKendree lineup include junior outfielders
Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) and
Colton Calhoun (Mt. Zion, IL/Mt. Zion), junior infielder Keith (K.J.) Rogers, junior catcher
Chris Deaville (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul) and freshman infielder
Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington).
On the mound, the Bearcats will have a pair of hurlers back on the staff who started at least half of their appearances in 2015. Senior left-hander
Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) led McKendree in wins (3), complete games (5) and ERA among starting pitchers (4.25). Sophomore right-hander
Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) impressed in his rookie campaign with a one-hit shutout to his credit along with a team-best 31 strikeouts. In addition to seeing time at first base, the lefty-throwing Rogers is slated for one of the spots in the Bearcats' rotation. Among those competing for starting role on the mound will be junior right-handers
Terry Deaville (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul) and
Matt Wasche (Kansas City, MO/Rockhurst).
ABOUT MISSOURI SOUTHERNThe Lions enter the weekend ranked No. 15 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll. Missouri Southern is undefeated through its first five games, including a 6-5 win at home on Wednesday against Northeastern State University. The Lions have scored 50 runs in their first five games, all of which have come within the friendly confines of two-year old Warren Turner Field. Senior outfielder Chris Huffman leads the offensive attack for MSSU with a .476 average while driving in nine runs. Junior catcher Joe Paulino is close behind at a .467 clip, while junior outfielder Tyler Sutherland has driven in a team-leading 10 runs through the five contests.
Senior right-hander Cody Hutchinson has won both of his starts so far this year, posting an ERA of 5.25 with nine strikeouts in 12 innings of work. As a team, Missouri Southern has a collected 2.80 earned-run average during its season-opening five-game win streak.
McKendree and Missouri Southern have not met on the baseball diamond since March 16, 2001 in the Missouri Southern State Classic. In that contest, the host Lions scratched out a 9-7 victory over the Bearcats. McKendree Sports Hall of Fame inductee Justin Knolhoff had three hits to lead the Bearcats' offensive attack.
WHAT'S NEXTMcKendree will head east next weekend for a four-game series at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn. The Bearcats and Eagles will play single games Friday and Sunday as well as a doubleheader on Saturday. McKendree is slated to open the home portion of its 2016 season March 5-6 with a three-game set against Missouri S&T.
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