GAME DAY LINKS -- 
McKENDREE at BELLARMINE
Saturday, April 2, 2016, Noon ET (DH) | LIVE STATS
Sunday, April 3, 2016, Noon ET (DH) | LIVE STATS

McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
BELLARMINE SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC BASEBALL HOME PAGE

(LEBANON, Ill., March 31)--The McKendree University baseball team will hit the road again this weekend, traveling to Louisville, Ky., for a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series at Bellarmine University. The Bearcats and Knights will face off in doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch set slated for noon ET each day.

McKendree opened league play last weekend by splitting its four-game set at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats' pitching was dominant in their two wins last week, taking the opener of the series 8-0 on Friday before closing the week with a 1-0 triumph in the final game of the weekend on Saturday. Junior right-hander Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) baffled the Prairie Stars' hitters in game one of the weekend, allowing just six hits with nine strikeouts over eight innings. Sophomore righty Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) was just as impressive in the series finale on Saturday, giving up just two hits and striking out a career-high 12 batters over seven innings in the 1-0 triumph. For his efforts, Yung was selected as the GLVC Pitcher of the Week. 

Saturday's doubleheader will mark the halfway point of the 2016 season for McKendree. The Bearcats enter play with a 10-13 overall record. The victories at UIS marked the team's first wins on the road in 2016. The Bearcats are tied for eighth in the GLVC in batting average at .291. With 15 home runs, McKendree has already surpassed its total for the entire 2015 campaign. Junior first baseman and junior outfielder Grant Anderson (Mackinaw, IL/Deer Creek-Mackinaw) each slammed a homer last weekend in Springfield and continue to share team-high honors with five. Rogers has driven in a team-leading 17 runs, while Anderson is next with 14 RBI. 

On the mound, Cates has taken over the team lead in wins with three. His 2.57 earned-run average is also tops for all McKendree starters. Thanks to his 12-strikeout performance at UIS last weekend, Yung has taken over the team lead by fanning 23 batters. Junior right-hander Matt Henning (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll) collected his fourth save of the year by getting the last four outs to preserve Yung's 1-0 win. 

ABOUT BELLARMINE
The Knights are 9-13 overall and 1-3 in the GLVC after dropping three of four games last weekend at the University of Southern Indiana. Bellarmine also dropped a pair of mid-week games at home Monday and Tuesday against the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The Knights are 13th in the league in batting average at .276 and boast a 5.26 ERA, which is just ahead of McKendree for 12th place. Senior infielder Cole Metcalfe paces Bellarmine with a .376 average and is tied for the team lead with 10 extra-base hits. Junior infielder Nick Wright is close behind at a .366 clip as well as 10 extra-base hits, while Griffin Neuer shows the way for Bellarmine with two home runs and 21 RBI. Neuer has also crossed the plate a team-leading 23 times in 22 games. 

Last season, McKendree and Bellarmine met in the regular-season finale for the Bearcats May 2-3 at Hypes Field. The Knights won all four games on their way to a GLVC Tournament berth. The two teams last played at Knights Field during the 2014 season, when McKendree earned a split of the four-game weekend series against Bellarmine. 

WHAT'S NEXT
McKendree returns to Hypes Field on Wednesday, April 6 to host Maryville University in a non-conference contest. After this weekend's series at Bellarmine, the Bearcats will play nine of their next 10 games at home, including a GLVC series with the University of Indianapolis.