(ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 11)—The McKendree University baseball team rode the strength of a four-run fifth inning to a 5-3 victory Tuesday afternoon at NCAA Division I Saint Louis University.
Senior outfielder
Ryan Cates (Anderson, IN/Yorktown) dropped in a two-run double just inside the right-field line to highlight the four-run outburst for the Bearcats, who collected their first win over the Billikens in nearly 31 years. Tuesday's win at SLU comes a little more than 48 hours after McKendree registered its highest run output in its NCAA Division II era (dating back to 2013) in a 28-5 win at the University of Indianapolis, then the No. 10-ranked team in Division II.
"I can't say enough about our effort today. I'm extremely happy with the way we played a team game today," said McKendree baseball coach
Danny Jackson, who is in his first season at the helm of the Bearcats' program. "We pitched the ball really well, took care of it on defense and made some big plays when we needed them. Offensively we took advantage of some opportunities in the fifth inning and made it all stand up. This carries over from the effort we showed in that last game at Indianapolis. Any time you can beat a Division I team it's a great win for your program, and we were able to get it done today."
McKendree took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Billikens put together a threat against the Bearcats' senior closer,
Matt Henning (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll). Saint Louis pushed a run across and had the tying run at first base with one out. But Henning induced the Billikens' Griffin Robinson to hit a bouncer to McKendree senior third baseman
Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington), who turned a 5-4-3 double play to nail down the victory. The Bearcats' last win over the Billikens came in a 17-8 triumph in the first game of a doubleheader back on April 19, 1986.
The win was the second in a row for McKendree, which improves to 11-21 on the season. The Bearcats will head to Evansville, Ind., over the weekend for a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series at the University of Southern Indiana. The teams will meet in doubleheaders Friday and Saturday with first pitch each day set for noon.
McKendree wasted little time in grabbing an early lead, scoring a run in the top of the first inning against Saint Louis. Sophomore infielder
Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington) led off the contest with a double to left-center field and came around to score on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Fisher. The Billikens countered with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take its only lead of the day at 2-1.
In the fifth inning, junior infielder
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) started things with a single to left field for McKendree. Senior outfielder
Jay Roberts (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North) followed with a single to right field that enabled Aydt to reach third base. Junior outfielder
Hayden Bodine (Washington, IL/Washington) then bunted a ball near the pitcher's mound that was misplayed for an error, allowing Aydt to score with the tying run to help the Bearcats pull even at 2-2.
Johnson then drew a walk to load the bases. After a line drive by junior infielder
Jeff Wetzler (Newburgh, IN/Castle) was speared for the first out of the inning, Cates stepped in and lifted a fly ball down the line in short right field that landed fair by inches to plate Roberts and Bodine to push McKendree out in front at 4-2. Fisher later drove in Johnson on an RBI ground out to cap the big inning for the Bearcats.
The 5-2 score stood until the bottom of the ninth inning, when SLU mounted its final rally. Henning, the last of five McKendree pitchers in the contest, picked up his team-best fourth save of the year by tossing the final two innings. Senior right-hander
Matt Wasche (Kansas City, MO/Rockhurst), who worked two innings in rellef for the Bearcats, picked up the victory to improve to 3-0 on the year. Senior left-hander Daniel Todoshuck tossed three innings to serve as the bridge between Wasche and Henning. Todoschuk held the Billikens without a hit while giving up just one walk and striking out two.
