Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 (EVANSVILLE, Ind., April 14)—The McKendree University baseball team lost both ends of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at the University of Southern Indiana. The Bearcats were shut out in the opener 5-0 before the host Screaming Eagles broke out the bats in an 11-3 triumph in game two.
The pair of losses on Friday gives McKendree an overall record of 11-23. The Bearcats move to 1-13 in the GLVC. McKendree and Southern Indiana will wrap up its four-game conference series on Saturday with another twinbill. First pitch is set for noon in Evansville, Ind.
Junior catcher
Matt DeLaVega (Lincolnwood, IL/Niles West) provided much of the offensive firepower for McKendree in game two as he slugged a solo home run and run-scoring double to account for the only RBIs on the day for the Bearcats. Junior infielder
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) and sophomore infielder
Luke Johnson (Barrington, IL/Barrington) also rapped out two hits apiece in the nightcap for McKendree.
In game one, the Bearcats were limited to just four singles as Lucas Barnett tossed a complete game for the Screaming Eagles. Barnett walked just one batter and struck out two in his 102-pitch gem for USI. The Screaming Eagles plated single runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings before icing the victory with a pair of runs in the seventh inning. Senior left-hander
Brad Henry (Godfrey, IL/Alton) pitched the first 3 2/3 innings as he was charged with the loss for McKendree.
Game two was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Southern Indiana (19-14, 11-3 GLVC) erupted for five runs to race out to a 5-0 advantage. DeLaVega put the Bearcats on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning when he blasted a solo homer to left field. The Screaming Eagles scored twice in the fifth inning to extend its margin to 7-1 when McKendree mounted one final rally against USI. An RBI double off the bat of DeLaVega scored junior infielder
Jeff Wetzler (Newburgh, IN/Castle), who reached on a one-out single. DeLaVega later scored on a USI error to help pull McKendree back within 7-3.
The rally was short-lived as the Screaming Eagles sealed the doubleheader sweep by plating four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to account for the final margin.
Junior right-hander
Nick Yung (Smithton, IL/Freeburg) was roughed up in taking the game two loss for McKendree. In 2 1/3 innings of work, Yung gave up five earned runs on six hits.
