(LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 26)—The McKendree University baseball team earned its first Great Lakes Valley Conference victory of the season by taking the first game of a doubleheader Monday afternoon at Bellarmine University. The Bearcats rolled to a 5-1 win in the opener before dropping a 14-8 slugfest to the host Knights in game two.
With Monday's split, McKendree is now 5-16 overall and 1-3 in GLVC play. The Bearcats will host Lewis University in a four-game GLVC series Friday and Saturday at Hypes Field. First pitch on both days is set for noon.
Junior right-hander Levi Brening notched his first victory on the mound in a McKendree uniform by tossing six solid innings Monday against Bellarmine. Brening and freshman right-hander Andrew Yancik combined for a four-hitter in game one as Brening allowed one earned run on four hits with a pair of strikeouts in six innings of work. Yancik retired the side in order in the seventh to shut the door on the Knights. Brening improves to 1-1 on the season with his game one victory.
Brening helped his own cause in game one with a pair of RBI on a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk. Junior infielder Matt Klosterman had a big day at the plate for the Bearcats with five hits, including a pair of triples and a double. Klosterman was 4-for-5 in the nightcap with three RBI, while he scored twice in the opener.
McKendree wasted little time in grabbing the lead in game one. Junior infielder Luke Johnson reached on a two-base error before Klosterman drew a walk and Brening singled to load the bases. Junior outfielder Drew Reich gave the Bearcats a 1-0 lead with an RBI single that scored Johnson with the first run of the contest. Junior first baseman Andrew Aydt then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Klosterman to give McKendree a two-run advantage.
In the top of the third inning, Klosterman tripled with one out and Brening followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Klosterman for a 3-0 McKendree lead. In the fourth inning, Aydt led off with a single and moved to third thanks to a double off the bat of freshman catcher Austin Francis. Sophomore outfielder Blake Gray singled up the middle to score bring home Aydt and extend the Bearcats' lead to 4-0.
Bellarmine (15-7, 3-1 GLVC) broke up Brening's shutout bid with a run in the fifth to pull within 4-1. The Bearcats capped the game one scoring in the sixth inning as Brening drew his bases-loaded walk to force home Francis, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.
In game two, Bellarmine took a 2-0 lead in the second inning before McKendree cut the deficit in half in the top of the third. Junior infielder Adam Cox laced a double down the left-field line, and Klosterman followed with an RBI double to bring the Bearcats within 2-1. However, the Knights responded with 10 unanswered runs to stretch its lead to 12-1 after five innings of play.
The Bearcats plated three runs in the sixth inning to get within 12-4. McKendree scored all three runs with two outs courtesy of RBI singles from Gray, Johnson and junior infielder Lucas Deimeke. Bellarmine scored its final two runs of the game in the seventh inning to regain a 14-4 lead before the Bearcats plated the final four runs of the day. Klosterman had the big hit in a three-run eighth inning, a two-run double, to get McKendree within 14-7. Gray then drove in McKendree's final run in the ninth inning when he reached on a fielder's choice.
