LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree baseball (10-16, 4-8 GLVC) took the last game of the series against Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opponent Southwest Baptist (12-12, 6-6 GLVC) at Hypes Field this last weekend.
Game One | Southwest Baptist 9, McKendree 3
Ryan Kaiser (W: 2-2), Trey Cole (L: 2-4)
After a quick two innings, Southwest Baptist got the scoring started in the third with a four-run inning off two doubles and a bunt that would bring in one.
Javy Garcia would answer with a two-run homer in their half of the inning to get on the board. Later in the inning Hunter Sherman would hit an RBI double to get the third run across.
Southwest Baptist would respond with five unanswered runs to take the first game of the series.
Max Meuli led the team 2-4 with a double and a single in the game. Peyton Bittle would also add a hit to the team total as well.
On the mound, Trey Cole went the first five innings, recording two strikeouts. Luke Aubuchon would come in for three innings of relief, also striking out two. Parker Johnson came in for the last inning striking out one.
Game Two | Southwest Baptist 14, McKendree 6
Eli Stewart (W: 2-0); Josh Dima (L: 0-2)
In the second game, Sage McMinn started the game hot blasting a home run in his first plate appearance to take the lead. Garcia would follow with an RBI double in the third to make the score 2-0 going into the fourth.
However, Southwest Baptist would pull away in the fourth with 10 runs. They would also get four more in the fifth and sixth inning. McKendree would try and make up the deficit in their half of the sixth with Sherman hitting a solo homerun and Kyle Richardson hitting a three-run shot to left center.
Gabe Deaver and Bittle would also add hits in the game.
Pitching for McKendree, Josh Dima would get the start striking out six in 3.2 innings. The rest of the pitching staff would combine for three more strikeouts and only give up five hits for the rest of the game.
Game Three | Southwest Baptist 14, McKendree 9
Koen Van Klooster (W: 3-2), Calan Kujawa (L: 2-2)
The third game would be a scoring fest as there were a total of 24 runs off 25 hits in the game.
Deaver would have a day as he went 2-4 with two homeruns and total three RBIs. McMinn also brought in three runs with his homer in the 1st inning. Meuli and Sherman totaled two hits each, while Meuli added an RBI with a solo home run. Quest Hull, Mark Wagner, and Garcia would all earn a hit as well. Bittle would also account for a run scoring off a passed ball.
Calan Kujawa would start the game striking out two in 1.2 innings of work. Davis Beale would come in to relive him going 2.1 innings. Eli Dyer would come in to start the fifth striking out one and giving up only one hit. Owen Dunn would finish the last 2.1 innings, getting six strikeouts out of the 14 batters he faced.
Game Four | McKendree 16, Southwest Baptist 1 (7 Inn.)
Rhett Detering (W: 2-1), Dane Rodgers (L: 0-2)
Game four was a complete turnaround as McKendree completly shut down Southwest Baptist and fired offense to pull off the run rule. Rhett Detering went six innings giving up five hits and struck out three. Only giving up three free bases out of the entire 23 batters he saw. Ben Amador would close out the game with getting three straight outs in the seventh.
Offensively, Hull led the scoring going 2-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Bittle led the team in total hits going 3-4 with three RBIs and one home run. Deaver added to his home run total from the game before with a solo shot in the fifth. He also had three RBIs in the game. Meuli, Garcia and Sherman would bring in the remainder of the runs to pull away from Southwest Baptist.
Next Up
McKendree will stay at home for a four-game series against Roosevelt next weekend. The first game will be Friday, March 27th with the first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m. That will be followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, March 28th starting at 12:00 p.m. The final game of the series will be Sunday, March 29th at 12:00 p.m.
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