GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at DRURY -- Friday/Sunday, Feb. 24-26, 2017
US Baseball Park -- Ozark, Mo.
Friday, Feb. 24 (DH) -- 2 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS
Saturday, Feb. 25 -- 2 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS
Sunday, Feb. 26 -- Noon | WATCH | LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
DRURY SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 23)--The McKendree University baseball team will head to Springfield, Mo., this weekend for a four-game, non-conference series against fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference member Drury University. An earlier adjustment to the weekend schedule will now have the Bearcats and Panthers opening the weekend with a doubleheader Friday beginning at 2 p.m. before single games Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon. All four games will be played at U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Mo.
McKendree kicked off its 2017 season last weekend by winning the final game of a three-game set at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. The Bearcats were defeated by the Falcons in the first two contests 8-5 and 12-8 before winning the final contest on Sunday, 13-6. The 26 runs scored by McKendree marks the highest total scored by the Bearcats in the first three games of a season in the program's NCAA Division II era that dates back to 2013.
Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) (.571) and
Hayden Bodine (Washington, IL/Washington) (.500) made the most of their chances in the lineup at Montevallo, along with
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) (.429).
Brad Groleau (Peru, IL/St. Bede Academy) drove in a team-high six runs last weekend and also delivered the Bearcats' first home run of the season.
Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington) also had four RBI at Montevallo, with Cates adding three on a bases-clearing triple to seal the win on Sunday.
On the mound,
Brian Christianson (Mokena, IL/Lincoln-Way East) turned in a solid relief outing in last Friday's season opener, giving up just one earned run and striking out six over five innings.
Matt Wasche (Kansas City, MO/Rockhurst) collected the first win of the year, tossing the middle three innings during the come-from-behind effort on Sunday.
Drury brings a 2-2 record into this weekend's play against McKendree. The Panthers hosted Washburn University in a four-game series last weekend, winning the first and last contests of the set. Shane Benes led the charge for Drury, going 7-for-14 with a home run and three runs batted in. Riley Herron drove in a team-high five runs while Caleb Essick added four RBI. Starters Ryan Colombo and Austin Simms each posted a win on the mound for the Panthers. Colombo gave up two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts over seven innings in the season opener, while Simms scattered seven hits and allowed one earned run in six innings to help Drury claim the finale on Sunday.
McKendree and Drury have not met since the 2014 season, when the Panthers swept a four-game GLVC series at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.
Following the Drury series, McKendree will open the home portion of its 2017 schedule March 4-5 by hosting Hillsdale College in a four-game, non-conference series. The Bearcats and Chargers will play doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch set for noon each day at Hypes Field.
