KANSAS CITY, Mo. – McKendree baseball (9-13, 3-5 GLVC) split the series against Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opponent Rockhurst (16-5, 5-3 GLVC) taking the last two games at Loyola Park Baseball Field last weekend.
Game One | Rockhurst 8, McKendree 6
Jacob Merithew (W: 2-0), Trey Cole (L: 2-3), Brendan Rodis (Save: 1)
To start off the first game, both teams were hot early, getting all the scoring done in the first five innings.
Offensively, Gavin Arseneau got the scoring started with an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Rockhurst would respond with four runs of their own to take back the lead. Peyton Bittle responded with an RBI sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to two. Again, the Hawks came back with three runs to extend the lead once again.
McKendree would then score four unanswered runs to get within one. The effort was fueled by a ground out from Javy Garcia which Max Meuli would score from and an RBI double from Arseneau. Noah Shuman would then hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to end the scoring run for the Bearcats.
Rockhurst scored once more in their half of the fifth to get an insurance run which would prove to be the run to secure the win for them.
On the mound, Trey Cole started the game and pitched the first five innings while striking out eight batters. Luke Aubuchon would come in for relief and pitch two innings and only giving up one hit and striking out two. Adam Galdoni would close the game and strike out one while also not give up any hits to his six batters faced.
Game Two | Rockhurst 10, McKendree 5
Landon Carr (W: 3-0); Parker Johnson (L: 0-2), Trent Clemons (Save: 1)
The second game of the series the Bearcats would score every two innings, notching runs in the first, fourth and seventh inning. Most of the runs would come in the first as Garcia, Arseneau and Quest Hull would all get RBI's taking an early 3-0 lead.
Rockhurst came back with eight unanswered to take and 8-3 lead going into the fourth.
Garcia added another RBI single to go 2-4 in the game. After another two-run inning for the Hawks, Hull reached on an error that would result in Arseneau coming around to score in the seventh.
Gabe Deaver would also get into the hit column and come around to account for one run in the game as well.
Starting the game on the mound would be Parker Johnson as he only gave up two hits and struck out one in his one inning. Eli Dyer relived him for 1.2 innings where he also struck out one. Davis Beale would see 1.1 innings in the game not giving up any hits or runs out of his six batters faced. Gavin Reidel would close the game, only giving up three hits and striking out five in his two innings.
Game Three | McKendree 2, Rockhurst 1
Owen Dunn (W: 2-0); Landon Carr (L: 3-1)
The third game would result in both pitchers hitting their marks as there were only 10 hits and three runs total in the game.
Hull led the bats with two hits and an RBI in the seventh, which would be the run that put McKendree over Rockhurst to get their first win of the series. Arseneau got first run earlier in the inning with an RBI triple.
The combination of Josh Dima and Owen Dunn held the Hawks at bay, only allowing four hits and one run. Dima had the start, going five innings giving up only two hits and striking out eight batters. Dunn was credited with the save going two innings and giving up only two hits while punching out three.
Game Four | McKendree 12, Rockhurst 6
Calan Kujawa (W: 2-1), Landon Carr (L: 3-2)
The Bearcats kept the momentum from the last game and got the offense back up and going getting 11 hits and scoring 12 runs.
The game started slow, as it would be tied 1-1 at the end of four innings. The lone run in that stretch came from an RBI single from Bittle. McKendree would extend its lead with four runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Meuli would take advantage of an error to score in the fifth. Shuman would push across Hull with an RBI double; Mark Wagner secured an RBI with a ground out with Hunter Sherman getting across home. To end the scoring run Bittle would reach on an error where Shuman would score.
A five-run inning in the top of the eighth would put the game out of reach. Meuli would get walked with the bases loaded to force a run across. Garcia and Arseneau would each follow that up with RBIs as well. Sherman ended the inning with an two-RBI double to end the inning. Deaver would also get a two-RBI single to end the scoring in the ninth.
Pitching for McKendree would be Rhett Detering as he went 4.1 innings; he only gave up two hits and struck out for in his time. Calan Kujawa finished the game also striking out four and getting accredited with the win.
Next Up
McKendree will be back at home this next weekend to host a four-game series against Southwest Baptist University. The series will start on Friday, March 20th with a singular nine-inning game at 1:00 p.m. On Saturday, March 21st there will be a doubleheader with back-to-back seven-inning games starting at 12:00 p.m. To close the series there will be one nine-inning game at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 22nd.
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