(LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 11)—The McKendree University baseball team fell in the finale of a three-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series Monday afternoon at Bellarmine University, 5-3.
The host Knights rallied to score three runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning to collect the victory. McKendree is now 3-9 on the year and 1-2 in GLVC play. The Bearcats will return to Hypes Field Tuesday to host William Jewell College in a non-conference doubleheader, with first pitch set for noon.
Each team had 10 hits in Monday's contest. Senior infielder
Matt Klosterman (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) rapped out three hits to pace McKendree, while senior outfielder
Drew Reich (Charlestown, IN/Charlestown) and junior outfielder
Jordan Richardson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) each collected a pair of hits. Richardson and junior
Cal Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) each had an RBI in the contest for the Bearcats.
McKendree jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Freshman infielder
Hayden Schaefer (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) singled with one out. Schaefer reached third base on a single by Reich and raced home on a Bellarmine outfield error. Bellarmine (9-7, 2-1 GLVC) answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to grab a 2-1 advantage.
The 2-1 score stood until the top of the eighth inning, when McKendree rallied for a pair of runs to regain the lead at 3-2. Reich started the uprising with a one-out single. Senior infielder
Drake Hampton (Godfrey, IL/Alton) and senior outfielder
Matt DeLaVega (Lincolnwood, IL/Niles West) each drew walks to load the bases. Richardson stepped in next and lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Reich with the tying run. Kossina following with a run-scoring single that plated Hampton with the go-ahead tally.
Bellarmine then took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Neeley hit a three-run home run to center field.
Freshman right-hander
Ryan Vogt (Ava, IL/Trico) started for McKendree and allowed two earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in four innings of work. Sophomore right-hander
Andrew Yancik (Glen Carbon, IL/Edwardsville) was charged with the loss for the Bearcats.