LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree baseball went 1-3 in its home opening series against Findlay University at Hypes Field this past weekend.  

Game One | Findlay 14, McKendree 6   

Carson Becker (W: 2-0); Rhett Detering (L: 0-1)  

In the game, the Oilers came out swinging, scoring seven runs in the first five innings. However, McKendree would answer by scoring in four straight innings to make it a close 6-8 game at the end of the sixth. After holding Findlay scoreless in the seventh, they would score six unanswered runs in the eighth and ninth.  

Offensively in the game Max Meuli led the team in RBIs with three off a groundball to third to get Gavin Arseneau across the plate. He would then follow that up with a two-run homer in the third. Peyton Bittle led the team in hits, notching two singles and a double while earning one RBI in the process. Hunter Sherman and Tyler Butash were right behind him with two hits each as Sherman had two doubles in the game with an RBI. Butash blasted one over the wall in the fourth to account for one of his hits, then later singled in the sixth.  

Pitching wise, the staff combined for 10 strikeouts with Calan Kujawa and Davis Beale getting four each. Luke Aubuchon and Parker Johnson also secured a strikeout as well.  

Game Two | McKendree 13, Findlay 1  

Trey Cole (W: 1-2); Adam Kiessling (L: 0-3)  

The second game was a totally different story as the Bearcats completely flipped from the game before. After a scoreless first inning, the scoring was started by a solo shot to center field by Javy Garcia. This would only be the start to his fantastic offensive outing. The scoring would continue in the third off a Meuli RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Sherman to make the game 3-0 at the end of the inning.  

In the fourth, Quest Hull got the inning started with a solo home run to right center. Then the Oilers would give up back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to push two more runs across. After that, Garcia would blow the game wide open with a grand slam to center field to cap off a seven-run inning.  

The scoring run would continue in the fifth from a two-RBI triple from Arseneau and an RBI single from Meuli.  

On the mound, Trey Cole would get his first win of the season. In five innings of work he had eight strikeouts and only allowed four hits and one earned run. Adam Galdoni and Ben Amador would finish the game out and not give up any hits to their eight combined batters faced.   

Game Three | Findlay 11, McKendree 4 

Conner Evanich (W: 1-0); Josh Dima (L: 0-1) 

Game three of the series started as a pitching duel with only one run being scored in the first three innings. Garcia would be the one to open the scoring on the game with an RBI single. After a four-run top of the fourth for Findlay, Gabe Deaver and Meuli would both get runs across to keep the game close going into the fifth. Unfortunately, the Bearcats would only secure one more run in their half of the fifth from a Kyle Richardson groundout that would get Hull home.  

Findlay would then close the door in the top of the seventh with a four-run surge.  

Noah Shuman would lead the team with three hits and two of them going for extra bases. Garcia and Arseneau would also have multi-hit games with two hits each.   

Josh Dima would get credited with the loss; however, he had a great showing, reaching double figures in the strikeout column with 10 in his four innings.  

Game Four | Findlay 13, McKendree 5 

David Jimenez (W: 1-0); Adam Galdoni (L: 0-2) 

In the final game, Findlay picked up right where they left off getting two runs in the first inning. However, Deaver would come back with a two-RBI single to right center to tie the game up in the bottom of the second.  

The Oilers would then anwser back with nine runs in the third and fourth to get a commanding 11-2 lead. Meuli would add another home run to his total on the weekend with a two-run shot to right field. Shuman would come across to score off an error to end the scoring for the Bearcats.  

Offensively, Meuli and Deaver would each have two RBIs in the game.  

Next Up 

McKendree will be back home for a series against Upper Iowa this weekend. The games will be a doubleheader on Friday, February 27th with the games starting at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 28th will also be a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. All the games will be played at Hypes Field.  

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