GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, 1 p.m.
Charger Park -- Huntsville, Ala.
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FINAL 2018 McKENDREE STATISTICS
UAH STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 15)--The wait is over for the McKendree University baseball team. The Bearcats will kick off their 2019 season with a three-game series at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. McKendree will face the Chargers in a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. before the teams are slated to finish their series with a single game on Sunday, also at 1 p.m.
McKendree posted an overall record of 11-37 last season while going 6-17 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats will see a new conference schedule format in 2019 as all teams will now play a 33-game league slate. GLVC weekends will now consist a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single contest on Sunday, with select weekday doubleheaders and single games added to the mix. The weekend series at UAH will mark the first of 17 scheduled non-conference affairs for the Bearcats.
In all, six starters return to the Bearcats' lineup this season, led by seniors
Drew Reich (Charlestown, IN/Charlestown),
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) and
Matt Klosterman (Belleville, IL/Belleville West). Reich started 30 games in the outfield and was the leading hitter for McKendree in 2018, posting a .333 average with two home runs and 16 runs batted in. Aydt led the Bearcats with 47 starts (mostly at first base) and responded by hitting .319 with team-high totals of eight homers and 36 RBI. Klosterman handled a majority of the action at shortstop a year ago, batting .315 with a team-best 46 hits and 10 stolen bases.
On the mound, senior
Levi Brening (Coon Rapids, MN/DuQuoin) and sophomore
Andrew Yancik (Glen Carbon, IL/Edwardsville) are among the top candidates to anchor the Bearcats' starting rotation. Brening was 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA in limited duty last season. Yancik saw action as both a starter and reliever, going 2-1 with a 4.78 ERA and one save in 14 appearances in his rookie campaign.
Following the Bearcats' season-opening trip to Alabama, McKendree is slated to host Saginaw Valley State University for three games Feb. 22-24. The location and game times will be announced early next week.
ABOUT ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE
The Chargers have already played six games this season as they hold a 2-4 mark in 2019. UAH lost two of three games in each of its first two series of the year at Saint Leo University and at Anderson University in South Carolina. The Chargers will be opening their 2019 home slate with the three-game series against McKendree.
Malave Bettinger leads the UAH offensive attack with a .375 average through six games. Bettinger has also posted a team-leading eight RBI. Nolan Ramsey and Palmer Ford are each hitting at a .364 clip, while Tyler McCown checks in at .350. Tyler Self has collected both of the Chargers' victories on the mound as he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings of work. Self has also struck out a team-high 11 batters. Dylan Murphy has picked up one save on the young season.
