LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball (7-16, 2-3 GLVC) opened its Great Lakes Valley Conference series against Rockhurst University (11-12, 1-4 GLVC) with a 7-6 victory at Hypes Field after the Bearcats' kick started their bats in the fourth inning. McKendree took the lead in the eighth and proceeded to hold off the Hawks to earn the series-opening win. The Bearcats will be back on the field for games two and three on Saturday, April 2, beginning at 12 P.M.
Rockhurst started off strong with a home run to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first via Michael Laudando and added a second run in the third inning, which made it a 2-0 lead.
The Bearcats fought back ferociously with redshirt infielder junior
Austin Francis blasting a ball over the fence in the left field corner, cutting the Hawks' lead in half. Following the homer, freshman infielder
Gavin Arseneau doubled off the wall, which drove in junior outfielder
Katom Parnell and graduate catcher
Mason Hale. With the flurry of runs in the bottom of the fourth, McKendree claimed a 3-2 lead over the Hawks.
Rockhurst came back to take the lead in the fifth inning with a two-run single to right field, making the contest 4-3 in favor of the visitor. In the sixth, Rockhurst collected two more runs to take a three-run lead over the hosting-Bearcats.
The Bearcats lit their bats up for the remainder of the game, scoring four runs between the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. McKendree tacked on one in the sixth via an Arseneau sacrifice fly-out, which brought in Hale, once again. In the bottom of the seventh, the Bearcats tied the GLVC matchup with a pair of bombs from senior infielder
Alex Steinbach and then from sophomore outfielder
Joseph Copeland. The eighth and final string of at-bats led to the leading run for McKendree with senior outfielder
Ryan Hutchinson kncoking a double off the outfield wall, which drove in the eventual game-winning run with Parnell scoring.
McKendree held off the Hawks in a one-two-three top of the ninth with sophomore
Mark Branz earning his second save of the season. Graduate hurler
Andrew Yancik (2-3) earned his second victory of the year in three innings of work with three strikeouts.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back at Hypes Field for games two and three of the series in a double-header. The day begins at 12 P.M. and will feature two seven-innings contests.
