GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at WILLIAM JEWELL
Friday, March 9, 2018 -- 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 10, 2018 -- 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 11, 2018 -- 1 p.m.
LISTEN LIVE (Friday Only -- WJC Broadcast)
WATCH LIVE (Saturday and Sunday -- WJC Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
WILLIAM JEWELL SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., March 8)--The McKendree University baseball team will extend its season-opening road trip just a little longer this weekend with a three-game series at William Jewell College. The Bearcats and Cardinals will tangle in three single games Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Liberty, Mo. The Friday contest has been moved to a 2 p.m. start, while first pitch on Saturday and Sunday will occur at 1 p.m.

McKendree will bring a 2-9 overall record into the weekend series. The Bearcats were originally slated to play their first home game of 2018 on Wednesday, but a scheduling conflict with the University of Missouri-St. Louis has pushed the Bearcats' season debut at Hypes Field back to this coming Wednesday, March 14, against Drury University. 

Last weekend, McKendree went 1-3 against then-No. 13 Quincy University. The Bearcats won the final game of the series 4-2 in 10 innings. Senior Jeff Wetzler's RBI single and junior Andrew Aydt's sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning provided the margin of victory for McKendree. Senior right-hander Logan Zachry, the third of four McKendree pitchers in the contest, earned his first win with two innings of scoreless relief. Freshman right-hander Evan Spears nailed down the final three outs to collect his first collegiate save. 

The duo of juniors Matt Klosterman and Levi Brening continue to lead the offensive attack for the Bearcats. Klosterman has a team-best .390 batting average and has scored a team-leading 10 runs. A solid weekend at Quincy helped Brening boost his average to .314, while he leads McKendree with three home runs and 11 RBI. Junior Drake Hampton sits at .273 on the season with three stolen bases. 

Brening made his first start of the season in the victory at Quincy, allowing just one earned run on two hits with six strikeouts in six innings in a no-decision. Freshman right-hander Connor Gilles has been consistent out of the bullpen for the Bearcats, allowing just one earned run in 8 2/3 innings over three appearances. 

ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL
The Cardinals are 4-6 so far in 2018. William Jewell snapped a five-game winless streak with a 6-5 victory Wednesday at home against Northwest Missouri State University. Christian Chalabi is off to a hot start for the Cardinals with a .538 average (14-for-26) in nine starts. Ben Paulter is hitting .368, while Chase Averitt is at .308 for William Jewell. Chalabi and Averitt share the team lead with 11 RBI, and Averitt has the Cardinals' lone home run of the season. Paulter has stolen four bases in five attempts.

On the mound, head coach Mike Stockton looks to the trio of Brendan Beatty, Mack Stephenson and Zach Hutcherson. All three have multiple starts for William Jewell, and all are 1-1 on the year. Beatty is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and a team-best 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings of work. 

McKendree and William Jewell met last season at Hypes Field in what was scheduled as a three-game series. The Bearcats won the first two contests 10-6 and 3-0 before the finale was cancelled due to inclement weather.