CHESTERFIELD, Mo. | Maryville Athletic Complex - 22nd-ranked McKendree University softball (26-13, 12-4 GLVC) finished another weekend with a sweep, taking both over Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, after splitting with Maryville on Friday afternoon. The Bearcats outpaced the Tritons on Saturday with 4-1 and 15-2 victories while taking game one of the weekend over the Saints, 2-0. McKendree is out on the road once again for its next doubleheader, taking on the Prairie Stars of UIS on April 5 in Springfield, Illinois.

Game 1 @ Maryville | W, 2-0
The Bearcats went to battle a local foe in Maryville on Friday, finding a pair of runs to lock up the win in a defensive battle. McKendree and the Saints went scoreless through the first three innings as the Bearcats owned the lone hit. The fourth inning saw two Bearcats reach base with junior pitcher Sami Huck and junior shortstop Lauren Harris both get on before senior infielder Sarah Roth send out a sac fly. The sac fly scored Huck to push the game 1-0 in favor of the Bearcats. McKendree tallied another run in the latter end of the fourth with sophomore outfielder Molly Bartz dropping a single to center, which drove in Harris.

The Bearcats held off the Saints, allowing just one hit behind Huck's performance and victory in the circle, which included eight punch outs. 

Game 2 @ Maryville | L, 4-0
McKendree struggled to get the offense moving in game two of the weekend at Maryville, tallying just three hits with Harris, Spodarek, and Roth all recording one in the contest. 

Junior pitcher Ellie Vetter struck out five in her effort while senior pitcher Paige McAllister punched out two.

Game 1 @ UMSL | W, 4-1
The Bearcats got back on track in the third game of the weekend, even after going down one run in the second to the Tritons. Harris drove in the first run with a left field single, scoring Bartz in the third, which tied the contest. The fifth inning saw McKendree add the winning run with Bartz blasting her first collegiate home run for the game-winner over UMSL. 

The Bearcats then put up two more runs in the seventh inning behind a triple by Spodarek, driving on Harris and freshman catcher Ryleigh Albers, who pinch ran for Huck. 

Huck collected the victory in the circle to go 2-0 on the weekend, adding eight more strikeouts while allowing single-digit hits and zero earned runs, once again.

Game 2 @ UMSL | W, 15-2
The offense continued to build in game two as the Bearcats put up four runs in the second, leading off with a solo homer by Spodarek for the 1-0 advantage. Freshman infielder Paisley Twait then fired a bases-clearing triple out to right, scoring Roth and junior infielder Ali Grenzebach for the 3-0 lead. The second inning was finished off with a sac fly by Bartz to drive home Twait. The third ining then saw two more runs get pushed home with Grenzebach firing a single through the middle to score Harris and Huck. 

Scoring ceased until the sixth inning where Vetter landed a double in left, clearing the bases for three runs with Bartz, Twait, and sophomore utility Katie Beagle all scoring. UMSL found two runs in the bottom end of the sixth inning, cutting the lead of the Bearcats to seven runs at 9-2. 

The Bearcats added six more runs to finish up the game with Roth driving in Harris via single through the right. Twait then recorded her first collegiate grand slam out to center, scoring Grenzebach, Roth, and Spodarek. The final run was pushed through by freshman pitcher Olivia Tipton with a single to center field which scored Vetter.

McKendree held on for the 15-2 victory over UMSL with Vetter earning the win in the circle behind a two-hit, six strikeout performance.