(LEBANON, Ill., March 30)—The McKendree University baseball team was defeated in both ends of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Friday evening against Lewis University. The Bearcats were the home team in games that were moved to Whitey Herzog Field in Belleville, where the visiting Flyers rallied to take the opener 4-2 before grabbing a 7-2 decision in game two.
McKendree slips to 5-18 overall and 1-5 in GLVC play. The Bearcats and Flyers will wrap up their four-game weekend series Saturday at noon, with the games to be played again at Herzog Field.
Junior first baseman Andrew Aydt and senior outfielder Grant Anderson each collected four hits in the twinbill against Lewis. Junior outfielder Drew Reich added three hits, while junior infielder Luke Johnson drove in both McKendree runs in game one.
Friday's opener shaped up as a pitcher's duel between McKendree right-hander Nick Yung and Lewis righty Pete Hamot. The hurlers matched zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Bearcats broke through to grab an early advantage. Anderson led off with an infield single before sophomore outfielder Blake Gray doubled down the left-field line to move Anderson to third base. Johnson stepped up next and delivered a two-run single up the middle to play Anderson and Gray to give McKendree a 2-0 lead.
Yung held the Lewis (9-14-1, 3-3 GLVC) at bay until the top of the seventh inning. A single and two walks chased Yung from the contest, and the Flyers put up three runs in the frame to take a 3-2 lead. In six-plus innings of work, Yung gave up three earned runs on five hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
In each of the last three innings, McKendree brought the tying run to the plate, but could not rally against the Flyers. The Bearcats held a 12-7 edge in hits in game one.
Lewis took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning of game two before McKendree knotted the score in the bottom of the frame. Reich and Anderson reached on consecutive singles and advanced a base on a Lewis throwing error. Reich scampered home on a passed ball to tie the contest at 1-1. The Flyers took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning along with another tally in the top of the fifth to grab a 5-1 advantage.
McKendree scored its final run of the evening in the bottom of the fifth. Reich produced an RBI single to score junior outfielder Corey Chambliss, who reached on a fielder's choice, to trim the Bearcats' deficit to 5-2. Lewis tacked on two runs in the seventh inning to seal the doubleheader sweep.
