SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - McKendree University baseball (6-15) was unable to hold back the offense of No.24 Drury in the Saturday double-header with the Panthers, dropping the first game by a score of 12-11 and game two by a score of 10-3. The Bearcats struggled to keep their bats hot in the latter half of the two-game outing, only recording three hits in the second game after collecting a dozen hits in the first matchup. McKendree will look to split its first Great Lakes Valley series of the season in the Sunday afternoon finale against nationally-ranked Drury. 

GAME 1
The Bearcats got behind early on with the hosting-Panthers scoring four runs in the bottom of the first before McKendree's bats started up. McKendree fired off five runs in the top of the second inning with sophomore catcher Tommy Mohan starting things off by driving in sophomore outfielder Joseph Copeland. Redshirt sophomore infielder Austin Francis was the next to drive in a fellow Bearcat with senior infielder Joseph Costanzo making it to home plate. Junior Katom Parnell corraled another Bearcat for the third run with a sac fly to bring in Mohan. Francis was the fourth run in the half inning for McKendree, scoring off a double by freshman infielder Gavin Arseneau. In turn, Arseneau scored off a double by senior outfielder Ryan Hutchinson, which gave the Bearcats the lead, 5-4. The Panthers scored one in their half inning to knot the game up at 5-5. 

Drury added a run in the bottom of the fourth, giving the lead to the host, 6-5. 

In the fifth inning, the Bearcats came back to take the lead behind a grand slam to right by Francis, which drove in Costanzo, Copeland, and graduate senior Mason Hale. The shot put McKendree up 9-6 over the Panthers. McKendree then added on another pair of runs with a single by Parnell, driving in Hale and junior Austin Fleming and making the score 11-6. 

Drury managed to go to work against the McKendree staff in the bottom of the seventh, scoring five runs and winning in walk-off fashion. 

GAME 2
Both the Bearcats and Panthers were slow to start the second game of the day with the score being tied 1-1 at the end of the second inning. McKendree then added two runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead. The leading run in the third inning came from senior infielder Alex Steinbach, who made it home via a balk. Francis then sent a sac fly out to drive in senior outfielder Corey Price and make the lead 3-1. 

McKendree was unable to hold off the bats of the host Drury in the remainder of the contest. Drury fired off nine runs to end the game and win on a count of 10-3. 

UP NEXT:
McKendree will look to tie up the series in the Sunday, March 27, matchup, which kicks-off at 12 P.M. at U.S. Baseball Park. 

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