LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University baseball (9-17, 4-4) plays host for another four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series with the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis (5-17, 4-4) coming to Hypes Field for the weekend. The Bearcats enter the weekend series after defeating Rockhurst 3-1 to open the month of April while UMSL defeated Southwest Baptist, 3-1, in its latest weekend outing. The series will begin on Friday, April 8, at 2 P.M. with a nine-inning outing.
THIS SEASON
McKendree began the year with a flurry of tough matchups, including at Harding, at Northeastern State, at Illinois Springfield (non-conference) and current-No.20 Grand Valley State. The Bearcats took one game from each HU, NSU, and GVSU, while they were swept by current-No.18 UIS. McKendree entered GLVC play against then-No.25 Drury (currently RV) but narrowly dropped the series on a 3-1 slate. Following the conference opener, McKendree turned up the pace on offense versus Rockhurst at Hypes Field, scoring 36 runs in four games while senior infielder
Alex Steinbach earned the GLVC's player of the week for his performance in the series (
Release).
The Bearcats rank highly in multiple categories amongst NCAA DII programs*, including: total home runs (t-9th | 52 - 26 games), home runs per game (3rd | 2.00 HR/game), and slugging percentage (13th | .554). In the GLVC, McKendree leads in home runs (52), ranks third in both slugging (.554) and total bases (456), and tied for fourth in RBIs (173).*
*As of games through April 4
At the plate:
The Bearcats own four hitters at a clip over .300 with sophomore outfielder
Joseph Copeland leading at .384 with a team-high 1.273 OPS. Copeland has logged time in 21 games with 19 starts, collecting 28 hits, 21 RBIs, 18 runs scored, and nine homers. Senior outfielder
Corey Price sits just behind his teammate with a .381 batting average in 26 starts for the Bearcats. Price owns the lead in hits at 40 in 105 attempts with 25 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 15 extra-base hits (8 2Bs/2 3Bs/5 HRs), and an OPS of 1.063. Freshman
Gavin Arseneau is the third hitter over-.300 with 32 hits in 90 plate attempts, which results in his .356 batting average. Arseneau has amassed an OPS of 1.050 with 24 starts, 23 runs scored and 23 RBIs. Steinbach rounds-out the above-.300 hitters for the Bearcats at .337 in 83 attempts and 24 starts while owning an OPS of 1.221 this season. The senior also has the team lead in homers at 10 with 26 runs scored and 20 RBIs.
On the year, 11 Bearcats have blasted a homer while 13 have at least two RBIs and 14 have scored a run. Six players own a slugging percentage over .500 this spring with Copleand leading at .822 while four have on-base marks of over .400, led by Steinbach at .462.
On the mound:
McKendree's hurlers have functioned through committee this year with eight Bearcats logging double-digit innings tossed, which has been topped by junior
Garrett Herring. Herring has thrown 27.1 innings with a team-leading 29 strikeouts and an under-2.00 WHIP. Three pitchers for McKendree have multiple wins with sophomore
Mark Branz (3-0) taking the lead with 3 wins in 17.0 innings thrown, 16 strikouts, and a WHIP of 1.82 and an ERA at 4.76. Junior
Mac Grant owns the singular complete game for McKendree with a 7.0 inning win over Rockhurst on April 2 at Hypes Fieldwhen he allowed one run and struck out eight Hawks.
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UMSL enters the weekend with a 5-17 overall and 4-4 GLVC record this spring. The Tritons come off of a 3-1 series win over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar on April 1-3. Prior to beginning GLVC play, UMSL went 1-11 in non-conference bouts, beating Upper Iowa, 4-3, in its sole non-GLVC victory. They lost their opening GLVC series to William Jewell, 3-1, before defeating the SBU Bearcats
Outfielder Brandon Olion leads the Tritons at the plate this season with a batting average of .397, OPS of 1.034, in 20 starts. Olion has collected 29 hits, 13 runs scored, and 13 RBIs.
On the mound, Nick Torres (1-3) has thrown a team-leading 26.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.31, a 7.42 ERA, and 19 strike outs, while holding his oppoents to a .229 average.
NOTES
McKendree will look to build a winning streak against the Tritons after snapping a four-game skid in 2021 against UMSL. UMSL leads the all-time series 15-6
The Bearcats are smoking the ball this spring, hitting at least one home run in 22/26 games so far. McKendree currently owns a four-game streak of one-plus homer.
Five Bearcats currently own a reached-base streak of at least 10 contests. Senior
Corey Price leads with 21-straight games, he is followed by
Gavin Arseneau (19),
Ryan Hutchinson (12),
Alex Steinbach (11), and
Katom Parnell (10).
Senior outfielder
Ryan Hutchinson owns a hitting streak of 12 games, dating back to March 19, when he went 1-3 against GVSU.
Senior infielder
Alex Steinbach won the GLVC's Player of the Week honors last week after his booming weekend against Rockhurst. The weekend of Steinbach featured five bombs, a batting average of .600, and a four-game OPS of 2.467 in 18 total plate appearances.
Sophomore outfielder
Joseph Copeland ranks third in the GLVC in slugging percentage at .822. Senior infielder
Alex Steinbach ranks tied-for-second in the league in homers with 10 so far.
NCAA DII Rankings (as of games through 4/4/22) for McKendree: 3rd | 2.00 HRs/game, t-9th | 52 HRs (26 games), 13th | .554 slugging percentage
GLVC Rankings (as of games through 4/4/22) for McKendree: 1st | 52 HRs, 3rd | .554 slg, 3rd | 456 total bases, t-4th | 173 RBIs
WEEKEND SERIES
Game 1 | Friday, April 8 | 2 P.M. | vs. UMSL | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 2
(DH - Game 1) | Saturday, April 9 | 12 P.M. | vs. UMSL | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 3
(DH - Game 2) | Saturday, April 9 | 3 P.M. | vs. UMSL | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
Game 4 | Sunday, April 10 | 12 P.M. | vs. UMSL | Hypes Field | Lebanon, Illinois
