LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball (12-23, 7-9 GLVC) heads off for its second to last regular season road trip to take on Southwest Baptist (7-30, 2-14 GLVC) in Bolivar, Missouri on April 22-23. McKendree will face the Bearcats of SBU in back-to-back double-headers after the series was moved up one day due to inclement weather in the forecast. The day one double-header on Friday, April 22, will begin at 4 P.M. with a nine inning contest before going under the lights in game two at 7 P.M. The second day of games will kick off at 1 P.M. on Saturday, April 23, with a seven inning game before concluding the series with a nine-inning finale at 3 P.M.
THIS SEASON
At the plate, the Bearcats of McKendree have been led by a quartet of above-.300 hitters with senior outfielder
Corey Price leading the effort at .391 while freshman infielder
Gavin Arseneau has hit at a clip of .372 this spring. Following Price and Arseneau are sophomore outfielder
Joseph Copeland at .347 and senior infielder
Alex Steinbach with a .311 average. Price, Copeland, and Steinbach each own a slugging percentage of over .700 with Copeland taking the lead at .760 and ranking 44th in Division II. The hitters quartet also each have amassed an OPS of over 1.100 as Copeland also leads that category at 1.192. McKendree has not been a stranger to the long ball this spring either with 12 individuals knocking one out of the park, totaling 72 homers (2.06 per game), which ranks eighth and fourth in NCAA DII.
On the mound, McKendree has utilized a platoon of pitchers as juniors
Garrett Herring and
Mac Grant have led with 39.0 and 33.1 innings tossed. Grant is tied for the team lead in wins with three (3-2) as sophomore
Mark Branz leads at 3-0 and graduate pitcher
Andrew Yancik also has collected three (3-3). Herring leads the team in strikeouts with 43 in nine appearances.
VERSUS THE BEARCATS (of SBU)
McKendree has dropped its last two against Southwest Baptist (18-11, 10-6) but split the series in 2021, winning the first two of that weekend (7-5, 4-1). SBU leads the all-time series between the programs, 4-2.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS (of SBU)
Colby Sneed leads SBU at the plate this season with an average of .376 and an OPS of 1.026. Sneed has amassed 41 hits, 29 runs scored, 10 RBIs, and 10 extra-base hits. SBU's pitching staff has been led by Corbin Reese, who has thrown 39.1 innings with 13 appearances, earning a 2-1 record with 25 strikeouts so far.
MCKENDREE IN THE RANKINGS
NCAA DII - Team
| Total Home Runs |
8th |
72 |
| HRs Per Game |
4th |
2.06 (72/35 Games) |
| Slugging Pct. |
11th |
.558 |
| Total Home Runs |
t-37th |
13 |
| HRs Per Game |
14th |
.43 (13/35) |
| Slugging Pct. |
44th |
.760 |
| Total Doubles |
t-36th |
15 |
| Doubles Per Game |
t-32nd |
.43 (15/35 Games) |
GLVC - Team
| Total Home Runs |
1st |
72 |
| Total Bases |
3rd |
613 |
| Total Doubles |
3rd |
64 |
| Slugging Pct. |
5th |
.558 |
| Total Home Runs |
2nd |
13 |
| Slugging Pct. |
5th |
.760 |
| Total Bases |
4th |
96 |
| Total Doubles |
2nd |
15 |
WEEKEND SLATE | Watch | Live Stats
Friday, April 22 | 4 P.M. | @ Southwest Baptist | DH - Game 1 | 9 innings | Bolivar, Missouri | Dodson Field
Friday, April 22 | 7 P.M. | @ Southwest Baptist | DH - Game 2 | 7 innings | Bolivar, Missouri | Dodson Field
Saturday, April 23 | 1 P.M. | @ Southwest Baptist | DH - Game 1 | 7 innings | Bolivar, Missouri | Dodson Field
Saturday, April 23 | 3 P.M. | @ Southwest Baptist | DH - Game 2 | 9 innings | Bolivar, Missouri | Dodson Field
