(JOPLIN, Mo., Feb. 20)—The McKendree University baseball team saw a 4-0 first-inning lead slip away in a 12-7 loss on Saturday afternoon at Missouri Southern State University.
 
The Bearcats led 7-5 heading into the bottom of the third before Missouri Southern, ranked No. 15 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll, tied the contest in the bottom of the frame before taking the lead with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning. McKendree moves to 0-2 on the year and will look to take the final game of the season-opening three-game series Sunday afternoon in Joplin, Mo. The Bearcats and Lions will meet with first pitch set for 12 noon.
 
Junior outfielder Colton Calhoun (Mt. Zion, IL/Mt. Zion) and sophomore outfield Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy) each had two hits in the contest for McKendree. Junior catcher Chris Deaville (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul) posted a two-run double during the Bearcats' four-run first inning.
 
McKendree batted around in plating its four first-inning runs. Junior outfielder Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) opened the frame by reaching on an infield single. Groleau singled up the middle before Calhoun brought Cates around with an RBI single to get the Bearcats on the board. Three batters later, Groleau came around to score on a Missouri Southern error, and Deaville followed with a two-run double to the left-center field gap to close the outburst. The Lions answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning of McKendree senior left-hander Sam Lidisky (Swansea, IL/Althoff Catholic) to cut the deficit to 4-3.
 
The Lions took a 5-4 lead in the second inning before the Bearcats fought back to take a 7-5 advantage in the top of the third. Junior outfielder Grant Anderson (Mackinaw, IL/Deer Creek-Mackinaw) and junior infielder Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) started the inning with consecutive walks. After a pitching change, Deaville moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Freshman infielder Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington) then drew a walk to load the bases, and senior infielder Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) also drew a free pass to bring home Anderson with the first run of the inning.
 
Cates then lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Fisher, and a wild throw on the relay allowed Johnson to score and give the Bearcats a two-run lead. Missouri Southern (7-0) responded by scoring twice in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 7-7. The contest remained tied until the bottom of the sixth, when the Lions took the lead for good by scoring four times in the frame. Missouri Southern tacked on an insurance run in the seventh inning.
 
Lidisky was nicked for seven earned runs in three innings of work with a walk and four strikeouts. Junior left-hander Keith Rogers (Marshall, IL/Marshall) was charged with the mound loss for McKendree, giving up three earned runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout over four innings.