LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball (6-16, 1-3 GLVC) is back on its home field for a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series against Rockhurst (11-11, 1-3 GLVC), beginning Friday, April 1 at Hypes Field at 2 P.M. The Bearcats enter its eight-game home stand after they went 1-3 against No.24 Drury in their GLVC-opening series. McKendree will seek to snap its three-game skid in the series opener against the Hawks, who dropped their latest series to Maryville.
McKendree won the first game of its opening GLVC series against the nationally-ranked Panthers but failed to hold back the Drury offense in the latter contests. The Bearcats were led by a pair of above-.400 hitters in the four games against the Panthers, junior outfielder
Katom Parnell (.500, 6/12) and sophomore outfielder
Joseph Copeland (.429, 6/14). Parnell collected his best series of the spring with eight RBIs, two runs scored on six hits with an OPS of 1.167. Copeland led the Bearcats in OPS at 1.342, totaling five runs, two doubles, a home run, and one RBI on six hits with three bases earned via walk.
THIS SEASON
At the plate
McKendree owns a trio of hitters with averages over .350 with Copeland leading at a .397 clip (1.246 OPS) in 58 plate appearances with 23 hits, 14 runs scored, 12 RBIs, and 11 extra-base knocks. Senior outfielder
Corey Price leads the team in at-bats (91) and games played/started with a start in all 22 contests. Price has amassed 34 hits on an average of .374 with 14 runs batted in, 13 extra-base hits, 22 runs scored, and an OPS pf 1.026. Freshman infielder
Gavin Arseneau caps-off the Bearcats' over-.350 hitters with a .351 BA on the season. Arseneau has collected 27 hits in 77 attempts with 10 extra-base hits, has knocked-in 18 runs while scoring 19. The freshman also hits third on the team with an OPS of 1.010.
On the mound
Five Bearcats have earned a victory this year with sophomore
Mark Branz owning two in nine relief appearances and 13.1 innings tossed. Branz has marked 14 strikeouts with an opponents average of .298. Junior
Garrett Herring has thrown the most innings for McKendree this spring with 22.2 and earned the sole victory against No.24 Drury in game one. Herring owns a WHIP of 1.85 and a team-leading 28 strikeouts in six appearances and five starts this season.
SCOUTING THE VISITOR
Rockhurst enters the weekend series with a .500 overall record (11-11), most recently dropping its GLVC series (1-3) with Maryville in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hawks are led by Michael Laudando and Hoyt Bennett at the plate. Laudando leads with an average of .385 while Bennett has hit .365. Bennett is the leader for the Hawks in OPS at 1.103 in 63 plate attempts, earning 23 hits with 15 RBIs, 15 runs, and 10 extra-base knocks. The mound has been controlled by Laudando, who has thrown a team-leading 39.0 innings with a 4-2 record and six total appearances. Laudando also leads the Hawks with an ERA of 2.31 and a WHIP of 0.95 with an opponent average of .194.
McKendree in 9-10 against Rockhurst all-time but has lost the last two meetings (0-4, 0-1). The last win for the Bearcats against the Hawks came on March 11, 2021 via a 5-4 score.
NOTABLE STREAKS
Hitting - Ryan Hutchinson 8,
Katom Parnell 5
Reached Base - Corey Price 17, Gavin Areseneau 15
WEEKEND SLATE
Game 1 | Friday, April 1 | 2 P.M. | vs. Rockhurst | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 2
(DH - Game 1) | Saturday, April 2 | 12 P.M. | vs. Rockhurst | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 3
(DH - Game 2) | Saturday, April 2 | 3 P.M. | vs. Rockhurst | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 4 | Sunday, April 3 | 12 P.M. | vs. Rockhurst | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
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