PARKVILLE, Mo. – McKendree University softball split a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader here Saturday afternoon against William Jewell College at the Park University Softball Complex.
 
The Bearcats opened the doubleheader with a 5-0 win, before the Cardinals rallied to score eight runs over the final three innings to post a come-from-behind 9-4 victory to secure the doubleheader split.
 
With the split, McKendree improves to 11-15 overall on the season and 3-7 in the league, while WJC moves to 7-17 overall and 3-7 in the GLVC.
 
The Bearcats will conclude the weekend road trip to Missouri with a doubleheader on Sunday, March 27 in Kirksville, Mo., against Truman State beginning at 12 p.m.
 
GAME 1 – McKENDREE 5, QUINCY 0
In Saturday's opening game of the doubleheader, the Bearcats offense recorded seven hits and scored five runs, including four runs in the fourth inning thanks to two 2-run home runs in the inning from graduate student first baseman Paige Hayden (Independence, Mo./Fort Osage) and sophomore leftfielder Natalie Schellert (Wentzville, Mo./St. Dominic).
 
Along with recording seven hits, the Bearcats also got another strong pitching performance in the circle from sophomore Ellie Quaethem (Washington, Mo./Washington) as the righthander tossed her ninth complete game of the season and third shutout as she struck out 11 and walked none in the 86-pitch effort. Quaethem improved to 7-6 on the season as she allowed two hits, which was a bunt single in the third to Sabrina Olmo and a lead-off single in the fourth by Kenzie Jones.
 
McKendree would get on the scoreboard in the top of the first as freshman shortstop Heaven Lawrence (Marion, Ill./Marion) drew her team-leading 17th walk of the season and after stealing her 11th base of the season, she moved to third on a single by junior second baseman Skyler Davis (Muncie, Ind./UT-Martin) and scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Hayden.
 
In the fourth, the Bearcats would score four runs on three hits to take a 5-0 lead in the game. In the inning, Davis led off with a single to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and Hayden then followed with a 2-run homer over the fence in right. The homer by Hayden was her first of the season. Later in the inning, junior catcher Morgan Andrews (Creal Springs, Ill./Marion) reached on a fielder's choice and would score when Schellert followed with her 2-run homer over the fence in left.
 
Following Schellert's homer, the Bearcats let Quaethem's pitching do the rest of the work as after allowing that lead-off single in the fourth to Jones, she would retire 10 straight batters and 12 of WJC's final 13 hitters overall. She struck out the side in the fifth inning.
 
Davis paced McKendree with two hits, while Hayden, Schellert, freshman centerfielder Austen Vickery (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township), junior third baseman Kelsey Sachs (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) and junior rightfielder Olivia Stansbury (Lafayette, Ind./Purdue Fort Wayne) each had a hit in the win.
 
Jones (3-6) took the loss in the circle for WJC as she tossed three-plus innings and allowed three hits and three runs, while walking two and striking out none. Sydney Parra pitched the final four-plus innings and allowed four hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out none.
 
GAME 2 – WILLIAM JEWELL 9, McKENDREE 4
In the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, the Bearcats outhit the Cardinals, 11-9, but struggled with runners on base as they stranded 10 runners, including leaving two runners on base in three of the seven innings.
 
Sachs led the way offensively as she went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Schellert and freshman pitcher Sydney Bires (Carlinville, Ill./Gillespie) each had two hits in the loss.
 
The Bearcats got on the scoreboard first in the nightcap as Stansbury drilled an 0-2 pitch from Aliyah Santiago over the fence in center for her GLVC-leading ninth home run of the season. Stansbury is now fourth in the league in hitting with a .463 batting average and leads the league in slugging percentage at .951.
 
WJC would tie the game in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by Hailey Wall off of Bires.
 
The Bearcats would retake the lead at 2-1 in the top of the second thanks to a one-out single by Schellert and an RBI double down the left field line by Sachs.
 
McKendree used three hits and plated a run in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead. In the inning, Bires led off with a double to left, moved to third on a single by Schellert and after Sachs loaded the bases on an infield single, Vickery would bring home Schellert on her fielder's choice grounder.
 
The Cardinals answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning as they used three hits to score three runs and take a 4-3 lead. The big hits in the inning were 2-run double by Abby Dubinski and an RBI double by Kenzie Stahl off fifth-year senior Makenzie Carter (Anna, Ill./Lindenwood-Belleville).
 
WJC would break the game open in the bottom of the fifth as they recorded three hits and scored four runs, including scoring a run on a wild pitch by sophomore pitcher Katie Nuetzel (Hereford, Ariz./Buena) to push its lead to 8-3. The big hit in the inning was a 2-run single to center by Dubinski, who went 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs and 4 RBI in the nightcap.
 
The Cardinals pushed its lead to 9-3 following an RBI ground out in the sixth inning by Wall.
 
In the seventh, the Bearcats would send six hitters to the plate and recorded two hits and took advantage of an error by Jewell to plate an unearned run on an RBI single by Bires. Jones, though, would get out of the jam by striking out Sachs and Andrews to end the game.
 
Along with Dubinski's two hits, Allison Rawls and Walls each had two hits in the nightcap for the Cardinals.
 
Bires (2-4) took the loss in the circle for the Bearcats as she pitched 3.1 innings and allowed three hits and four runs, while walking four and striking out two.
 
Santiago (3-4) picked the win for WJC as she pitched 5.1 innings and allowed nine hits and three runs, while striking out three and walking two.
 
While McKendree left 10 runners on base, the Cardinals stranded five and drew five walks in the second game.