LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball (15-24, 10-10 GLVC) enters its final home weekend of the season with a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup with the Cardinals of William Jewell College (26-14, 12-8 GLVC). The Bearcats enter the weekend series after defeating Southwest Baptist, 3-1, during a four-game weekend on April 22-23 in Bolivar, Missouri. The Cardinals travel acrossMissouri and the great Mississippi River after splitting its latest series, 2-2, with Maryville in Liberty, Missouri. McKendree currently sits sixth in the GLVC Green division with five teams tied at 12-8 in the dividsion while Drury leads at 14-6. The four-game series will be played at SIU-Edwardsville's
Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex due to probable field conditions at Hypes Field.
THIS SEASON
At the plate
Senior outfielder Corey Prince leads McKendree offensively this year and marks the sole Bearcats as the sole over-.400 hitter (.403). Price also marks one of two players who have started all 39 contests for McKendree, collecting 60 hits with 105 total bases, scoring 39 runs, and batting-in 33. Freshman
Gavin Arseneau sits second in the Bearcats' lineup with an average of .362 this spring behind 51 hits while scoring a team-high of 41 runs. Rounding-out the over-.300 hitters are sophmore outfielder
Joseph Copeland (.319) and senior infielder
Alex Steinbach (.316). All four of the over-.300 hitters for McKendree also pair an OPS of over 1.070 as Steinbach leads at 1.179 this year.
Power has been the name of the game for the potent Bearcats offense as 12 individuals have blasted shots over the fence with Copeland (14) and Steinbach (14) leading the way. Six players in the battery (of qualifiers) own slugging numbers over .540 while Steinbach leads with a percentage of .737.
On the mound
A multitude of hurlers are featured in the McKendree staff while juniors
Garrett Herring and
Mac Grant own the highest innings-pitched total at 44.0 and 35.1. Herring leads the team in strikeouts at 48 while Grant (3-3) is tied for the team lead in wins with graduate pitcher
Andrew Yancik (3-3) and sophomore
Mark Branz (3-0). Branz is also the Bearcats' leader for saves with three for far.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
William Jewell is led by a pair of above-.400 hitters with Cameron Fliege (.405) and Alex Epp (.401) each sitting amongst the team-leaders in bettery categories. Fliege has amassed 60 hits in 39 games with 52 RBIs and 34 runs while Epp has started all 41 contests with 63 hits collected, 43 runs scored, and 41 batted-in.
The mound has been held by Jake MacDonald, who has tossed 57.1 innings with a 3.61 ERA and 1.22 WHIP to earn a record of 6-2. MacDonald is also the team-leader in strikeouts with 60 in his nine appearances.
VERSUS WJC
The Bearcats lead the all-time series with William Jewell, 9-5, and won the most recent matchup in Lebanon in March of 2019, 6-1.
MCKENDREE IN THE RANKINGS (as of 4/24/22)
NCAA DII - Team
| Total Home Runs |
8th |
81 |
| HRs Per Game |
4th |
2.08 (81/39 Games) |
| Slugging Pct. |
8th |
.569 |
| Total Home Runs |
t-34th |
14 |
| HRs Per Game |
15th |
.41 (14/34) |
| Total Doubles |
t-18th |
17 |
| Doubles Per Game |
t-23rd |
.44 (17/39 Games) |
| Total Home Runs |
t-34th |
14 |
| HRs Per Game |
t-19th |
.40 (14/35) |
GLVC - Team
| Total Home Runs |
1st |
81 |
| Total Bases |
4th |
699 |
| Slugging Pct. |
2nd |
.569 |
| Saves |
t-3rd |
7 |
| Total Bases |
4th |
105 |
| Total Doubles |
3rd |
17 |
WEEKEND SERIES
3 P.M. | Friday, April 29 | vs William Jewell | Edwardsville, Ill. | Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex | Game 1 DH, 7 innings
6 P.M. | Friday, April 29 | vs William Jewell | Edwardsville, Ill. | Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex | Game 2 DH, 7 innings
4 P.M. | Saturday, April 30 | vs William Jewell | Edwardsville, Ill. | Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex
12 P.M. | Sunday, May 1 | vs William Jewell | SENIOR DAY | Location: TBD (Hypes Field or SIUe)
