KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – McKendree University concluded its four-game road trip to Missouri here Sunday afternoon as the Bearcats split a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader against Truman State at Truman Softball Park.
 
The Bearcats opened the doubleheader with a 15-13 win in eight innings, before the Bulldogs picked up a 15-9 win in the nightcap to secure the doubleheader split.
 
With the split, McKendree improves to 12-16 overall and 4-8 in the league, while Truman State is now 7-20 overall and 2-10 in the league.
 
Sunday's doubleheader featured a combined 52 hits, 52 runs scored and 23 walks, including the Bearcats recording 20 hits, scoring 24 runs and drawing 18 walks. Additionally, the two teams left a combined 26 runners on base in the two games, including 18 in the opener.
 
GAME 1- McKENDREE 15, TRUMAN STATE 13 (8 INNS.)
In Sunday's opener, the Bearcats recorded eight hits, drew 15 walks and led 10-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, before Truman State scored eight of the next 11 runs to pull within 13-8 heading to the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs scored five runs to force extra innings.
 
The Bearcats would use one hit and an error by TSU to plate two runs to take a 15-13 lead in the top of the eighth inning. In the eighth, freshman centerfielder Austen Vickery (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) reached on an error by TSU third baseman Ellie Weltha to lead off the inning. Vickery would advance to second on wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run on an RBI double to left center by freshman shortstop Heaven Lawrence (Marion, Ill./Marion) and Lawrence would add an insurance run on a sacrifice bunt by junior second baseman Skyler Davis (Muncie, Ind./UT-Martin).
 
In the bottom of the eighth, sophomore pitcher Ellie Quaethem (Washington, Mo./Washington) would work around a one-out single to keep Bulldogs off the scoreboard and seal the win.
 
Quaethem (8-6) started the game and finished the game as she tossed 4.1 innings and allowed 10 hits and seven runs, while walking one and striking out three. Sophomore Katie Nuetzel (Hereford, Ariz,/Buena) pitched the other 3.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and six runs, while striking out two and walking none.
 
McKendree got things going offensively in the top of the first inning as Lawrence and junior rightfelder Olivia Stansbury (Lafayette, Ind./Purdue Fort Wayne) both walked to open the game and then Davis followed with a 3-run homer over the fence in center to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead just three hitters into the game. The Bearcats would add a fourth run later in the inning as Vickery drew a bases loaded walk.
 
The Bearcats added four more runs in the top of the second inning as Stansbury led off the inning with a home run to give McKendree a 5-0 lead. Sophomore leftfielder Natalie Schellert brought home a run as she reached on an error and then junior catcher Morgan Andrews (Creal Springs, Ill./Marion) followed with a 2-run double to right to make the score 8-0.
 
Stansbury gave the Bearcats a 10-0 lead in the top of the third inning on her 2-run homer over the wall in right. The homer was the 11th of the season for Stansbury.
 
TSU would then begin its comeback as they plated five runs on five hits in the bottom of the third to pull within 10-5.
 
The Bulldogs added another run in the fourth on a solo home run by Kayla Quanatrum.
 
McKendree, though, would add three runs to its lead in the sixth to push its lead to 13-6. All three runs in the inning came without a hit as the Bearcats took advantage of a TSU error, drew five walks, and stole three bases, including Vickery scoring on a steal of home.
 
TSU would come back and score two runs in the bottom of the sixth to drop McKendree's lead to 13-8, before plating five runs in the seventh to tie the game. The big hit in the seventh was a 3-run homer by Quanstrum.
 
Stansbury and Davis each had two hits in the win, and they combined to score five runs and record 7 RBI. Lawrence scored three runs, while Vickery and Schellert each also scored two runs.
 
Truman had 20 hits in the game as Cameryn Patterson went 4-for-5 at the plate with 3 RBI, while Emma Walbert added three hits and three runs and Quanstrum also had three hits, scored three runs and had 4 RBI from the No. 9 spot in the line-up for the Bulldogs.
 
McKendree was walked 15 times in the game as Stansbury drew three walks, while Lawrence, Schellert, Vickery, junior third baseman Kelsey Sachs (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) and freshman designated player Sydney Bires (Carlinville, Ill./Gillespie) each walked twice.
 
Mya McCubbin (0-1) took the loss to the Bulldogs as she pitched 5.0 innings and allowed two hits and five runs (three earned), while walking nine and striking out three. She also had three wild pitches.
 
The Bearcats left 10 runners on base, while TSU left eight runners on base.
 
Truman State also committed three errors that led five unearned runs for the Bearcats.
 
GAME 2 – TRUMAN STATE 15, McKENDREE 9
Meanwhile, in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader, both teams recorded 12 hits, but the Bearcats had three errors that led to five unearned runs for the Bulldogs. Davis and Lawrence each had three hits in the nightcap, while Stansbury and graduate student first baseman Paige Hayden (Independence, Mo./Fort Osage) each had two hits. In the fact, the top hitters in the Bearcats' line-up went a combined 10-for-13 with eight runs scored and nine RBI.
 
Unlike the opener, the Bearcats were only walked three times in the nightcap and they left five runners on base. Truman drew four walked and left three runners on base.
 
Truman jumped in front 4-0 in the bottom of the first on a grand slam off the bat of Breianna Klein.
 
The Bulldogs lead grew to 7-0 in the bottom of the second as they plated three runs, including two runs off a double by Klein.
 
McKendree would come back in the top of the third inning as they scored four runs thanks to three straight homers by Stansbury, Davis and Hayden to pull within 7-4. Stansbury opened the scoring with a 2-run homer and then Davis and Hayden followed with solo home runs.
 
The Bearcats would tie the game in the top of the fourth thanks to a 3-run homer by Stansbury. For the doubleheader, Stansbury went 4-for-6 at the plate with six runs scored, four home runs, three walks and eight RBI.
 
TSU would retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Callie Unrein and then add four more runs to their total in the bottom of the fifth to take a 12-7 lead.
 
The Bearcats would pull within 12-9 in the top of the sixth thanks to a 2-run single up the middle by Hayden.
 
The Bulldogs would cap the scoring in the bottom of the sixth as they used three hits and scored three runs to take a 15-9 lead. The big hit in the inning was a 3-run homer by Weltha.
 
Fifth-year senior Makenzie Carter (Anna, Ill./Lindenwood-Belleville) took the loss in the circle for the Bearcats as she tossed three innings and allowed three hits and five runs (one earned run), while walking two and fanning none. Bires started in the circle and tossed 1.2 innings and Nuetzel pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Bearcats.
 
Taylor Spencer led Truman in the nightcap with three hits, while Walbert, Patterson, Klein and Quanstrum each had two hits for the Bulldogs, who had 12 hits in the nightcap.
 
McKendree will return home to Bearcat Field next weekend as they host Southwest Baptist for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 2 at 12 p.m., and then host Rockhurst for another doubleheader on Sunday, April 3 at 12 p.m.