(KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 18)—The McKendree University baseball team saw its four-game win streak come to an end Saturday afternoon with a 10-5 loss in the finale of a three-game series at Rockhurst University.
 
The host Hawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings of play and took advantage of a season-high four errors by the Bearcats to avoid a three-game weekend sweep. McKendree slips to 7-9 on the year and will make the short trip to St. Louis on Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader at Maryville University. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
Four different Bearcats – senior infielder Cody Hall (Harrisburg, IL/Harrisburg), sophomore infielder Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington), senior outfielder Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) and senior infielder Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) – each collected two hits in Saturday's contest for McKendree. Hall had a double and scored a pair of runs on the day, while Johnson and Fisher each scored a run.
 
McKendree took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Johnson led off with a single, reached third base on a pair of groundouts and scored thanks to an infield single by Cates. Rockhurst (12-6) took the lead for good by scoring twice in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 advantage, then tacked on two runs in the second and another in the third to build a 5-1 lead through three innings of play.
 
In the fourth, the Bearcats slashed the deficit to 5-3 thanks to a pair of two-out, run-scoring hits. Fisher reached on a one-out single and then stole second base. Two batters later, junior catcher Matt DeLaVega (Lincolnwood, IL/Niles West) belted an RBI triple to center field to plate Fisher with the first run of the frame. Junior outfielder Hayden Bodine (Washington, IL/Washington) stepped in next and brought DeLaVega home with an RBI single to bring the Bearcats within two runs.
     
After Rockhurst got one run back in the bottom of the fourth to push its advantage back to 6-3, McKendree scratched out a run in the fifth to rally back within two runs. Hall led off the inning as he reached on an error. Cates added a one-out single to move Hall to third base, who then scored thanks to a sacrifice fly by Johnson. The Hawks then put the game out of reach by scoring four runs in the sixth inning to stretch their lead to 10-4. The Bearcats scored the final run of the contest in the seventh inning as Hall led off the frame with a double and came around to score on a Rockhurst error.
 
Senior left-hander Brad Henry (Godfrey, IL/Alton) was charged with the loss on the mound for McKendree. In three innings of work, Henry allowed three earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.