LEBANON, Ill. | Bearcat Field - McKendree University softball (22-11, 5-1 GLVC) grabbed another pair of wins on Sunday afternoon with a sweep of the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons, 3-1 and 3-2. The Bearcats extend their win streak to five games with the sweep, taking both over former GLVC-foe UW-Parkside on Thursday and grabbing the finale against William Jewell on March 17. McKendree remains at home for Easter Weekend action with a tough battle against Lewis and UIndy on March 29 and 30.
Game 1 vs. UMSL
McKendree looked to avenge its final game of the 2023 season in the doubleheader, as UMSL defeated the Bearcats to put them out of the league's championship tournament last May. The home squad found a lead early to do just that with graduate infielder
Olivia Stansbury blasting a homer to right in the bottom of the second, pushing the advantage to 1-0. Following the Stansbury shot, senior infielder
Reagan Cheely added another solo home run to center field for a 2-0 lead in favor of the Bearcats.
UMSL cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth with an RBI single but the Bearcats then tallied another insurance score behind Cheely knocking a single to score junior utility
Heaven Lawrence. McKendree captured the victory by holding off a late push by the Tritons while senior pitcher
Ellie Quaethem (12-5) earned the win behind eight punchouts in her complete game performance.
Game 2 vs. UMSL
The Bearcats battled for the sweep in game two and pushed to lock up the victory immediately with two runs in the first inning. Cheely began scoring with an RBI single, driving in junior infielder
Sarah Roth before freshman outfielder
Molly Bartz knocked a pop-up beyond second, which was dropped, allowing Stansbury to score. McKendree led 2-0 after the end of the first and through the third. UMSL added its first run in the fourth with an RBI single.
In the sixth, the eventual game-winning run was scored with Stansbury launching a home run shot to right center, making the contest 3-1 in favor of the Bearcats. The Tritons kept pushing with a score in the seventh but McKendree held off another late game effort by UMSL. Junior hurler
Paige McAllister (10-5) collected the win while Quaethem added her third save of the season with 1.0 inning. McAllister tossed 6.0 innings with five strikeouts.
UP NEXT
March 29 | 12PM / 2PM vs Lewis | Bearcat Field - Lebanon, Illinois |
Watch /
Live Stats
March 30 | 12PM / 2PM vs UIndy | Bearcat Field - Lebanon, Illinois |
Watch /
Live Stats
