(LEBANON, Ill., May 3)—The McKendree University baseball team kicked off its final Great Lakes Valley Conference weekend of the 2019 season on Friday with a pair of losses to Drury University at the O'Fallon Family Sports Park in O'Fallon, Ill. The visiting Panthers rallied to grab an 8-5 win in game one before the Bearcats' ninth-inning rally in the nightcap came up just short in a 5-4 loss.
McKendree, now 11-37 overall and 8-24 in GLVC play, will wrap up its season on Saturday with a nine-inning contest against Drury. The teams are slated to begin their game at noon at Hypes Field. Prior to Saturday's game, the Bearcats will honor 13 seniors appearing their final home game.
Senior
Matt Klosterman (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) paced the McKendree offense with four hits on the day with four hits, including three in the opener. Klosterman also scored three times in game one for the Bearcats. Senior infielder
Adam Cox (Louisville, IL/North Clay), senior outfielder
Corey Chambliss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) and junior infielder
Bryce Emery (Harrisburg, IL/Harrisburg) all added two hits in the first contest, while junior
Cal Kossina (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West) chipped in with a pair of hits in the nightcap.
In the opener, McKendree wasted little time in jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Klosterman led off with a single and reached third on a throwing error. Senior outfielder
Drew Reich (Charlestown, IN/Charlestown) then brought Klosterman home with a sacrifice fly to get the Bearcats on the scoreboard. Drury answered with a run in the top of the third to knot the score at 1-1.
Klosterman opened the bottom of the third inning with a single and promptly stole second base. Chambliss then delivered an RBI double down the left field line to chase Klosterman home, giving McKendree a 2-1 advantage. The Bearcats then scored three times in the fifth to build a 5-1 cushion. Klosterman and Chambliss both reached on one-out singles before senior first baseman
Andrew Aydt (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) drew a walk to load the bases. Two batters later, Emery reached on an infield single to stretch the Bearcats' lead to 3-1. Cox stepped in next and ripped a two-run single down the right field line to increase the McKendree lead to four runs.
Drury (28-21, 20-12 GLVC) began to chip away at the deficit with two runs in the seventh inning to get within 5-4. After scoring another run in the eighth, the Panthers erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth to pull in front for good.
Junior right-hander
Jared Timmerman (New Baden, IL/Wesclin)n turned in a quality start for the Bearcats as he scattered seven hits and allowed three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Game two was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when McKendree put together a two-out rally to take a 1-0 lead. Cox starting things with a walk before senior
Matt DeLaVega (Lincolnwood, IL/Niles West) singled to left field. Kossina worked a walk to load the bases before Cox raced home on a wild pitch to push the Bearcats in front. Drury then scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to move ahead at 2-1.
Aydt led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a towering home run to right field – his sixth round-tripper of the year – to help McKendree pull even at 2-2. Drury then plated three runs in the top of the eighth to surge in front at 5-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, McKendree looked to rally one more time. DeLaVega led off with a walk before Kossina singled to center field. Two batters later, freshman infielder
Joseph Costanzo (Kansas City, MO/Rockhurst) belted an RBI double to left-center field that scored DeLaVega to trim the deficit to 5-3. Kossina scampered home moments later on a wild pitch to get the Bearcats within a run. But Drury closer Alex Austin – who picked up the win in relief in game one – came in to get the final two outs to thwart the Bearcats' rally.
Freshman right-hander
Ryan Vogt (Ava, IL/Trico) also had a quality start in game two for McKendree as he allowed two runs (just one earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts.
