GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at BELLARMINE
Sunday, March 10, 2019, 1:30 p.m. ET (DH) -- St. Xavier High School
Monday, March 11, 2019, Noon ET -- Knights Field
Louisville, Ky.
LIVE STATS (Monday game only)
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
BELLARMINE SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., March 9)—The McKendree University baseball team will kick off its 33-game Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule with a three-game series at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. The Bearcats and Knights will play a doubleheader on Sunday at St. Xavier High School before closing out the weekend with a single contest Monday on the Bellarmine campus. First pitch on both days is slated for noon ET.
The GLVC has implemented a new conference schedule for the 2019 season. Each team will play 11 league opponents to comprise the 33-game schedule. Most series will take place on the weekends with a doubleheader on the first day following by one contest on the second day. There will also be certain mid-week GLVC games held, with twinbills taking place at one site and the third game of the series being held at the other institution. All conference games will be nine innings in 2019.
McKendree enters the weekend with an overall record of 2-7. The Bearcats went toe-to-toe in a three-game, non-conference series last weekend at Hypes Field against Quincy University. Although the Bearcats dropped two of three games to the Hawks, McKendree received solid work from its pitching staff in all three games.
Levi Brening (Coon Rapids, MN/DuQuoin) turned in the team's first quality start of the season in Friday's 4-3 win in game one. Brening went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts. The other starters for the weekend –
Jared Timmerman (New Baden, IL/Wesclin) and
Ryan Vogt (Ava, IL/Trico) – were nearly as effective. While the McKendree bullpen churned out several solid performances.
Heading into the Bellarmine series,
Bryce Emery (Harrisburg, IL/Harrisburg) is the Bearcats' leading hitter at .375. Emery also has four runs batted in, which is tied for second on the squad.
Hayden Schaefer (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) is second on the team in batting average at .346, while Brening checks in at .333.
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) paces McKendree with two home runs and eight RBI through nine games.
Brening and
Lucas Vallandingham (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) have registered the Bearcats' mound victories this season. Brening notched his win in McKendree's 5-3 triumph over Saginaw Valley State University on Feb. 22, while Vallandingham collected the win in relief during the 4-3 Quincy victory.
Adam Bunnell (Salem, IL/Salem) earned the save in each of those contests.
Following its three-game series at Bellarmine, McKendree will return home to open a five-game home stand on Tuesday, March 12 against William Jewell College. The Bearcats and Cardinals were originally slated to play a single game that day, but Tuesday's postponement in Liberty, Mo., shifted the March 12 date to a two-game, seven-inning format.
ABOUT BELLARMINE
The Knights bring a 7-6 overall record into the weekend after dropping two of three games in a mid-week series at Lee University. Bellarmine is a perfect 5-0 at home this season.
Alex Phillips is hitting a team-best .435 in 12 starts this season. Deylen Miley is close behind at .432 with a team-leading three home runs to go along with 15 RBI. Zac Wiley is the only other Bellarmine starter hitting above .400 this season at .426. Wiley also has 15 runs batted in. Matt Higgins leads the Knights with 18 RBI in 13 games.
On the mound, Bellarmine is led by Eddie Mathis, who is 2-1 with a 5.03 earned-run average. Mathis has made four starts and has 12 strikeouts. Jacob Nagel also has four starts in the Knights' rotation this season and is 1-0 while tied for the team lead with four strikeouts.
Bellarmine took three of four games last season from McKendree. The Bearcats won the third game of the GLVC series 5-1 back on March 26, 2018 in Louisville.
