(LEBANON, Ill., Mar. 10) – The McKendree University baseball team grabbed a pair of wins Friday afternoon at Hypes Field against William Jewell College. The Bearcats used a four-run second inning to take the opener 10-6, before dominant pitching led the Bearcats to a 3-0 win in game two.
Thanks to its two wins on Friday, McKendree now moves to 5-8 on the season winning four of their last six games. McKendree will hit the road next Friday, Mach 17 traveling to Rockhurst University for a three game series with the Hawks.
Junior Matt DeLaVega (Lincolnwood, IL/Niles West) wielded a big bat for McKendree in game one going four-for-four, which included three doubles and two RBI. Senior Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) helped knock in two of McKendree's three runs in game two with a double to right field gap and going three-for-seven while scoring three times.
On the mound, senior right-hander Matt Wasche (Kansas City, MO/Rockhurst) captured the win in game one, throwing five innings of relief, surrendering one run with three strikeouts. Junior right-hander Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) stayed perfect on the year capturing the game two win, surrendering no runs on three hits and tacking on eight strikeouts. Out of the bullpen, senior Matt Henning (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll) faced just seven batters to register a two-inning save for the Bearcats. Henning allowed just one walk with two strikeouts to pick up his first save of the 2017 season.
William Jewell would strike first in the opener, which proved to be no barrier to the Bearcat offense. McKendree scored four in the home half of the second to jump out to an early 4-1 lead. A leadoff single by Cates, followed by an Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) double would allow Cates to score on a groundout RBI by Jeff Wetzler (Newburgh, IN/Castle). A double by DeLavega allowed Fisher to score, followed by junior outfielder Hayden Bodine (Washington, IL/Washington) doubling to right center putting a pair of runners in scoring position. A ground out by Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington) scored DeLaVega, while Bodine crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
After the Cardinals responded with a pair of runs in the third, and tacked on one in the fourth and fifth, McKendree answered with two runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. During the six-run stretch, Fisher would collect an RBI, senior infielder Cody Hall (Harrisburg, IL/Harrisburg) collected two RBI in the seventh, and DeLaVega seized his third double and second RBI of the day.
The Cardinals sparked a few late inning rallies plating one in the eighth, but the arm of Wasche was too much for the William Jewell offense to handle.
In the nightcap, McKendree scored all three of its runs in the fourth. Cates notched his third hit of the series with a double to right center scoring Blake Gary and Hall. Cates would score on a balk just three batters later to give McKendree the 3-0 lead.
Starter Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) continued to throw lights out after the Bearcat rally, allowing just three runners on base over the span of the next three innings. Senior right-hander Matt Henning (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll) came in to relieve Yung in the eighth, leaving no window of opportunity for the Cardinals, retiring six of the seven batters faced to capture the save and the combined shutout.
