(LEBANON, Ill., March 11)—The McKendree University baseball team dropped both ends of a non-conference doubleheader Friday at home against William Jewell College. The visiting Cardinals took the opener 7-0 before holding off the Bearcats in the second game, 7-4.
 
Junior first baseman Keith Rogers (Marshall, IL/Marshall), who earned the start on the mound for McKendree in the nightcap, went 3-for-4 at the plate in the contest with a solo home run. Junior outfielder Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) added a pair of hits, including a double.
 
In game one, William Jewell right-hander Austin Kretchmar tossed a four-hit shutout against McKendree. The Bearcats' lone extra-base hit in the contest came from junior catcher Chris Deaville (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul), who ripped a fifth-inning double down the left-field line. The Cardinals scratched out single runs in the second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings before sealing the win with a three-run outburst in the eighth inning. William Jewell rapped out 17 hits in the effort.
 
Cates started the opener for McKendree and was charged with the loss. He scattered 12 hits over six innings and allowed three earned runs. Cates walked just one batter and fanned three.
 
William Jewell jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning of game two before McKendree got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame. Cates started the inning with a double down the right-field line. Two batters later, senior infielder Adam Kunkel (Red Bud, IL/Red Bud) reached on an error that moved Cates to third base. Rogers blooped a single into shallow center field, and an errant throw brought home Cates to bring the Bearcats within 3-1.
 
After the Cardinals tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 6-1, McKendree manufactured another run in the bottom of the fourth. Junior infielder Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) led off with an infield single and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Fisher reached third base on a ground out and scored when Cates delivered an RBI single to right field to cut the Bearcats' deficit to 6-2.
 
Fisher scored another run for McKendree in the bottom of the sixth inning when he led off the frame with a walk, advanced to second after a ground out and scored when sophomore outfielder Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy) bounced a run-scoring single into right-center field.
 
William Jewell's Dylan Christie belted a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to extend the Cardinals' lead to 7-3. McKendree closed out the scoring in its final at-bat as Rogers drilled a 2-1 pitch over the tall fence in right field for a solo shot. The lead-off home run in the bottom of the seventh was Rogers' third of the season, which ties him for the team lead.

Rogers was nicked for the game two loss. In 3 2/3 innings of work, Rogers allowed four earned runs on six hits with six walks and a strikeout.
 
McKendree moves to 3-10 on the season. The Bearcats will host Robert Morris University-Chicago in another non-conference doubleheader Monday at Hypes Field. First pitch is set for 12 noon.