LEBANON, Ill. – The Bearcats hosted the newest member of the GLVC for a four-game series at Hypes Field, the Upper Iowa University Peacocks on Thursday, March 28th through March 30th. McKendree took the first two games of the series in very different fashions, game one was a 10-run rule victory (16-6), while game two took extra innings and walk-off home run (8-7). The Peacocks took the final two games by the scores of 16-3 and 14-7.
Game 1 – March 28th
In what started as a game of who comes up with a timely hit first, turned into a one-sided game thanks to double digit runs in an inning. The Peacocks and Bearcats were locked in a pitchers' duel through the opening three innings as UIU heled a 4-2 lead. Chryan Cruse helped to produce both of those runs in the bottom of the 2nd as he tripled to right center which scored Michael Paule. On the same play, Cruse came around to score on a throwing error by the shortstop.
Entering the bottom of the 4th inning trailing 6-2, the Bearcats offense came alive. After Kaid Muth reached on a leadoff single, Kyle Czarnecki hit a two-run home run to left field to make it 6-4. Later in the inning with one out, Peyton Bittle reached via an error to score Paule. The next batter, Joey Kossina singled through the left side to score Harrison Toone and Cruse which gave McKendree the 7-6 lead. Back-to-back RBI singles by Noah Nelson and Muth stretched the lead to 9-6 with still only one out. Brandon Roth capped off the scoring in the inning with a grand slam to left field to make it a 13-6 ballgame.
The Bearcats made it the 10-run lead in the 6th with Muth homering to left field and Michael Paule doubling down the left field line to score Roth and Czarnecki.
Derek Galdoni picked up the win in relief, getting the only batter he faced to ground out.
Game 2 – March 29th
The second game of the series was a tale of two games in one. Early in the game, it was another pitchers' duel between Jordan Eaton and the UIU starter. Brandon Roth got the scoring started with an RBI groundout in the 2nd inning to put McKendree on the board. Two innings later, Noah Nelson homered to right field which made it 2-0.
As the game moved to the 7th inning, UIU took the 3-2 lead on a three-run home run. With McKendree at the plate in the bottom half of the inning, Brandon Roth tied the game at 3 with a home run to straight away center field which forced extra innings.
UIU plated four runs in the top half of the 9th inning to go up 7-3, but the Bearcats fought their way back. After a Nelson walk, Muth hit a two-run home run to left field which made it 7-5. The inning continued with a Brody Macak single to left, then Roth hit a two-run home run to left center to tie the game at 7. After a Upper Iowa pitching change, Michael Paule turned on the second pitch he saw and kept the ball fair for the walk-off home run down the left field line.
Trevor Jaloszynski got the win in relief, throwing 2.1 innings.
Game 3 – March 29th
The third game of the series went in favor of Upper Iowa. They got out to a 3-0 lead with two home runs. Tommy Mohan made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Muth.
The Peacocks stretched their lead to 12-1 through 5.5 innings assisted by the eight runs they scored in the top of the 6th inning. Muth doubled to left field that scored Nelson and Kossina to make it a 12-3 game. UIU added four more runs in the 7th inning to cap the scoring on two home runs.
Game 4 – March 30th
In the final game of the series, UIU took the early lead on a passed ball. In the bottom of the 1st, Muth singled through the left side to score Kossina which tied the game at 1. The Peacocks made it a three-run game with a home run and a 2-RBI single.
Brandon Roth cut the lead back to a one-run game in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-run home run to center field. From that point on, UIU scored 10 unanswered runs to extend their lead to 14-3. The Bearcats attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th as Macak and Toone both hit 2-run home runs.
The Bearcats step out of conference play on Wednesday, April 3rd for a single game against the Eastern Illinois University Panthers in Charleston, Illinois with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
