LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball prepares to open its season in Searcy, Arkansas on Friday, February 11 and Saturday, February 12 at Harding University (Great American Conference) in a three-game series at Jerry Moore Field. Friday, February 11, will feature a nine/seven inning double-header beginning at Noon and then will play one nine inning game on Saturday, February 12, at 1 P.M. The Bearcats return to the ballpark after finishing 14-26 (7-25 GLVC) in the 2021 season and will be under the direction of third-year head coach
Andrew Stepp and staff.
McKendree fired out of the gate last spring with a 5-1 record, splitting with Winona State (1-1) and sweeping UW-Parkside (4-0) prior to entering its Great Lakes valley Conference (GLVC) slate. In the GLVC, McKendree struggled to gain a foot hold in Stepp's first full season at the helm but did manage to win at least one game in six of eight conference series. The first season under Stepp's direction was cut short due to the cancellation of spring athletics in 2020, the Bearcats were 6-9 when the season was ended in mid-March. Stepp commented, "We played well and our offense was really good, there are just a few things that need to be cleaned up and this will be a dangerous team."
SCOUTING THE HOST
McKendree takes on the Bison, who finished with a 23-18 overall record and 18-15 record in the GAC, taking 6th in the 12-team league. Harding exited the spring in the GAC Tournament, losing 6-7 to Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison are under the direction of 15-year head coach Dr. Patrick McGaha and have started off the season 3-0, beating Northeastern State on February 6 (4-2) and then defeating Christian Brothers in a doubleheader on February 8 (10-4, 6-2).
In the three games that the Bison have played, their offense has amassed 20 runs behind Drew McNeel, David Butterfield, and Coulton Doyle. McNeel is hitting .500 in eight plate appearances with two runs, four hits, and one RBI, while also collecting two doubles. Butterfield (.273 BA) and Doyle (.222 BA) have combined for three runs on five hits, and eight RBIs with Doyle blasting two home runs in three games. On the mound, Harding pitchers have a collective 2.74 ERA with 14 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .198 (81 at-bats) while its starters going 3-0 in the process.
2022 PREVIEW
At the plate:
The Bearcats bring back top hitter and
2021 All-GLVC second team member in graduate senior outfielder
Ryan Hutchinson, who finished off last season with a .366 batting average in 123 appearances at the plate. Hutchinson, a native of Sorento, Illinois, amassed 45 hits with 19 extra-base hits with a dozen doubles, six home runs. and one triple in 40 games. The Greenville-product also led the Bearcats in runs batted in (RBIs) with 33, on-base percentage at .470, slugging percentage at .626 (SLG), and on-base plus slugging (OPS) at 1.096.* Hutchinson recorded a handful of short hitting streaks throughout the season, including a season-long of five games between May 1-7 against Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville. McKendree also returns senior outfielder
Corey Price, who batted .333 over 153 attempts last spring, collecting 51 hits with 27 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits.
*leader among qualifying players
Adding to last season's offense, the Bearcats bring on senior infielder
Alex Steinbach and graduate senior outfielder
Peyton Dillingham. Steinbach, a native of Plainfield, Illinois and Plainfield North product, previously played at Nova Southeastern (2021), Illinois (2020), and spent two seasons at Parkland College (2018, 2019). Dillingham joins the Bearcats after most recently playing for Morehead State, is a Normal, Illinois-native and a product of Normal West, also attended Heartland CC for two seasons prior to transferring to Morehead.
Stepp on the Bearcats offense:
"Our hitting is deep and I think it'll be helpful that there's a big group who can make an impact, it should ease the stress on guys."
On the mound:
Returning to the mound for the Bearcats will be 10-game starter, junior right-handed pitcher
Logan Boente. Boente, a local product from O'Fallon, Illinois, threw 48.1 innnings in 2021, leading McKendree in strikeouts with 55, allowing only a .231 batting average to opponents. The O'Fallon-product amassed a 1.24 WHIP with a 5.77 ERA with a 2-5 records on the season, appearing in 11 games. He collected a season-high for strikeouts against UW-Parkside on March 6, canning 11 opposing batters in the contest over 6.0 innings. Additionally, the Bearcats return graduate seniors
Andrew Yancik and
Evan Spears, who both threw more than 34.0 innings last season. Yancik (nine appearances, eight starts) struck out 34 batters while Spears (nine appearances, four starts) added 27 more and both maintained a WHIP well under 2.00 on the year. McKendree also added a trio of right-handers to its pitching staff this season with sophomore
Sam Steimel (Evansville/Vincennes), sophomore
Ryan Drayer (Lake Land), redshirt-sophomore
Nik Millsap (Northwestern State), who each transferred to the Bearcats this past fall and will likely make a flurry of appearances in both starting and relieving roles.
Stepp on the Bearcats pitching staff:
"There's a good collecton of guys in the staff and we're coming out of what I would say was our best preseason for pitchers; I'm excited to see this group out there."
Stepp on the season:
"Our team brings back a lot of experience...we'll be a very mature, older group with impactful talent throughout the roster in both our returners and transfers. We'll aim to be extremely efficient with our defensive play, getting those three outs quick whether through fielding or our guys commanding the zone. On offense, it'll be about putting a lot of pressure on the defense throughout."
OPENING DAY
McKendree Baseball opens its season against Harding University on Friday, February 11 against Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a three-game series. Friday will feature a double-header at 12 P.M. and begin with a nine inning contest while game two of the day will be seven innings.
