LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University softball concluded its four-game homestand here Sunday afternoon by splitting a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader against Rockhurst University at Bearcat Field.
 
The Bearcats opened the doubleheader with a 5-4 win, before Rockhurst exploded to score 25 runs combined in the third and fourth innings en route to earning a 26-4 run-ruled win in five innings in the nightcap to secure a split.
 
With the split, the Bearcats improve to 15-17 overall and 7-9 in the GLVC, while Rockhurst moves to 13-19 overall and 7-9 in the league. Through 16 games in league play, McKendree and Rockhurst are tied for eighth place in the league standings with six more conference doubleheaders remaining in the regular season.
 
GAME 1 – McKENDREE 5, ROCKHURST 4
In Sunday's opening game of the doubleheader, the Bearcats outhit the Hawks, 6-3, including junior rightfielder Olivia Stansbury (Lafayette, Ind./Purdue Fort Wayne) going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and 2 RBI as she hit a triple and her 14th home run of the season.
 
Along with three hits and 2 RBI from Stansbury and two more RBI from freshman shortstop Heaven Lawrence (Marion, Ill./Marion), the Bearcats continued to get strong pitching from sophomore Ellie Quaethem (Washington, Mo./Washington), who had a perfect game going through five innings and ended up tossing her 11th complete game of the season as she allowed three hits and four unearned runs, while walking one and striking out eight.
 
Quaethem (10-6) has tossed 93.1 innings this season and has recorded 102 strikeouts and walked just 19. The 102 strikeouts are fourth most in the GLVC this season.
 
The right-handed pitcher got almost all the offense she needed in the bottom of the second inning as Lawrence drilled a 2-run double to right to give the Bearcats a 2-0 lead. The double by Lawrence was her team-leading 11th of the season. Stansbury followed Lawrence's double with a 2-run home run over the fence in left center off Rockhurst pitcher Anna Newcomer.
 
McKendree added a fifth run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Stansbury reached on a one-out triple down the right field line and she scored when the next hitter in the line-up, junior second baseman Skyler Davis (Muncie, Ind./UT-Martin), brought Stansbury home on her RBI single down the right field line to give the Bearcats a 5-0 lead.
 
The Hawks, though, would find some life offensively in the top of the sixth as Jaden Santoni broke up Quaethem's perfect game as she reached on an error by junior third baseman Kelsey Sachs (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) to lead off the inning. Jayla Pierce followed with an RBI single up the middle for the first hit of the game for the Hawks. Allison Shakiba would then draw a walk to put two runners on base with no outs. Quaethem would then retire the next two hitters on a strikeout and a fly out, but with two outs, Calli Wibbenmeyer drilled a 2-0 pitch from Quaethem over the fence in right for a 3-run homer to pull Rockhurst within 5-4.
 
In the seventh, Quaethem struck out the final two hitters she faced to seal the win.
 
Newcomer (4-9) took the loss in the circle for the Hawks as she tossed six innings and allowed six hits and five runs, while walking two and striking out nine.
 
Both teams committed an error and they left a combined three runners on base.
 
GAME 2 – ROCKHURST 26, McKENDREE 4
Meanwhile, in the nightcap, the Bearcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. In the inning, Davis reached on a 2-out double to left and scored when graduate student first baseman Paige Hayden (Independence, Mo./Fort Osage) recorded an RBI double to right center and Hayden would score the second run of the game on an RBI single up the middle by freshman designated player Sydney Bires (Carlinville, Ill./Gillespie).
 
Rockhurst, though, would respond by recording five hits and scored nine runs to take a 9-2 lead. The Hawks took advantage to four walks and scored a run on a wild pitch in the inning. The big hit in the inning was a 3-run homer by Maya Gallagher off Bires, who replaced fifth-year senior Makenzie Carter (Anna, Ill./Lindenwood Belleville), who started the game in the circle.
 
The Bearcats would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Bires, which plated Lawrence, who was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and then moved to third on back-to-back singles by Stansbury and Davis.
 
Rockhurst would put the game out of reach in the top of the fourth as they sent 18 hitters to the plate and scored 16 runs on 11 hits and took advantage of two McKendree errors to take a 25-3 lead in the game. In the inning, the Hawks hit three home runs, including a 3-rum pinch-hit homer by Kennedy Rucker.
 
The Hawks added another run in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Josie Lindemann to make the score 26-3.
 
Stansbury would cap the scoring in the bottom of the fifth with a mammoth solo home run over the fence in center. The homer was her 15th of the season and puts her within one home run of tying the school's single season mark for home runs.
 
The nightcap featured a total of 12 extra-base hits as Rockhurst had three doubles and five home runs, while McKendree had three doubles and one home run.
 
Stansbury, Davis and Bires each had two hits in the nightcap as the Bearcats collected eight hits in the game.
 
Four Rockhurst players had three hits in the game as Gallagher had three hits, scored four runs and 5 RBI, while Widdenmeyer, Clare Reinhart and Gwen Bostick also each had three hits. Bostick also scored four runs in the win.
Carter (1-4) took the loss in the nightcap as she tossed 2.1 innings and allowed seven hits and eight runs, while walking four and striking out none. For the game, McKendree's four pitchers combined to walk nine Hawk hitters.
 
Bre Barchek (3-1) picked up the win in the circle for Rockhurst as she tossed four innings and allowed six hits and three runs, while striking out three and walking none. Anna Stephen pitched the fifth inning and allowed two hits and one run.
 
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, April 9 for a 12 p.m. GLVC doubleheader in Rolla, Mo., against Missouri S&T. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.