Bearcats split twinbill while Cougars, Lynx lose
For the second time in as many days, the McKendree University baseball team picked up a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon at home against the University of Indianapolis. The Bearcats rolled to an 8-3 win in the opener before the visiting Greyhounds rallied to post a 13-7 win in game two.
McKendree and Indianapolis split their four-game weekend series in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats are now 12-19 overall and 4-8 in the GLVC. McKendree will step out of league play on Tuesday with a visit to the University of Missouri-St. Louis. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Junior outfielder Grant Anderson had another big day at the plate on Saturday for McKendree. Anderson collected six hits — three in each game — along with five runs scored and two runs batted in. The productive afternoon also included Anderson’s team-leading seventh home run of the season in the nightcap. Senior Connor Davault and junior infielder Isaac Fisher each chipped in with three hits on the day, while junior outfielder Ryan Cates and junior catcher Chris Deaville had a hit in each game while driving in four runs for the Bearcats.
Sophomore right-hander Nick Yung (Freeburg) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of the opener against Indianapolis on his way to picking up the victory. Yung allowed three unearned runs with three walks and three strikeouts while improving to 3-1.
Deaville staked McKendree to a 3-0 lead in the second inning of game one when he belted a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run. The blast was the first of the season for Deaville. The Bearcats added two more runs in the fourth inning to extend its advantage to 5-0. Anderson reached on a one-out, infield single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Davault followed by drawing his second walk of the contest. Two batters later, Cates delivered a two-run double to center field to score Anderson and Davault.
The Bearcats tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning to build an 8-0 cushion. Davault had the key hit in the inning with a two-run double to right-center field. Meanwhile, Yung held Indianapolis without a hit until Brendan Dudas reached on a one-out, infield single in the top of the fifth. The Greyhounds scored its three unearned runs in the top of the sixth before Yung shut the door in the seventh to finish off his first complete game of 2016.
Saturday’s second game featured 20 runs on 31 combined hits. McKendree took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Davault worked a leadoff walk, reached third base thanks to a pair of wild pitches and scored on an RBI groundout by Fisher. The Bearcats then plated two more runs in the second to grab a 3-0 advantage, which included a squeeze bunt by Cates.
Indianapolis battled back with a pair of runs in the top of the third to pull within 3-2 when an RBI single off the bat of Deaville in the bottom of the frame pushed McKendree out to a 4-2 margin. Cates then led off the bottom of the fourth inning with his first homer of the year, a solo shot just inside the left field foul pole, to give the Bearcats a 5-2 lead.
At that point, Indianapolis reeled off 11 unanswered runs to take the lead for good at 13-5. Anderson capped his memorable day at the plate in his final at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning when he drilled a two-run home run to left-center field to account for the final margin.
Belmont 6-12, SIUE 5-0
Belmont swept a doubleheader from SIUE on Saturday at Simmons Baseball Complex in Edwardsville.
SIUE fell to 5-23 overall and 3-12 in Ohio Valley Conference play with the loss. Belmont improved to 18-13 overall and 8-4 in the OVC.
Belmont built a 4-0 lead in the opener, before SIUE forged a comeback. Jacob Stewart led off the fifth inning with his first home run of the year and Alec Skender added a sacrifice fly in the inning to cut the lead in half. Skyler Geissinger singled to drive home Dustin Woodcock in the sixth to make it 4-3 before Belmont added two runs in the eighth.
Trailing 6-3 going into the ninth inning, SIUE scored twice on three hits and a pair of walks. Dustin Woodcock picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk. Geissinger singled to drive in a run. The Cougars stranded the bases loaded in the ninth and left 10 on base for the game despite outhitting the Bruins.
“Up and down the lineup we took quality at-bats,” SIUE assistant coach Danny Jackson said. “We had a chance to win the game in the ninth inning. It just didn’t happen for us. That’s baseball. I’m proud of the way the guys battled.”
The Cougars finished with 10 hits in the opener. Geissinger was 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs. Skender had two hits.
“Skyler has been making a couple of adjustments with his swing,” Jackson said. “It was nice to see him get rewarded for making those adjustments.”
Belmont starter Austin Krezeminski improved to 3-1 with the win. He allowed three runs over five innings. SIUE starter Jarrett Bednar allowed four runs in five innings and fell to 0-7 with the loss.
SIUE reliever Michael Shereyk tossed four innings in relief allowing two runs while striking out four.
The Bruins opened game two with four consecutive hits against SIUE starter Conner Buenger. Belmont designated hitter Clay Payne capped the inning with a three-run home run to left to make it 4-0 Bruins after an inning. Belmont added six runs in the fifth inning against Buenger and reliever Ryan Agnitsch.
Buenger fell to 0-6 with the loss. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits over four-plus innings. He struck out three.
Meanwhile, Belmont righthander Tyler Vaughn (4-1) allowed just six hits while throwing a complete-game shutout. He did not walk a batter, struck out seven and used just 77 pitches to complete the win.
Payne was 2 for 4 for the Bruins in the finale with four RBIs. First baseman Chas Hadden was 3 for 4. Rightfielder Brennan Washington was 2 for 2 with a pair of RBIs.
Keaton Wright was 2 for 4 in game two and had three hits for the day to extend his hitting streak to season-long 14 games. He is hitting .398 for the season and leads the OVC.
SIUE returns to the road for a Tuesday game at Saint Louis. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Billiken Sports Complex.
William Woods 1-5, LU-Belleville 0-1
The Lindenwood University-Belleville baseball team couldn't get much going offensively on Saturday as the Lynx fell 1-0 in game one and 5-1 in game two against William Woods University in Fulton, Mo.
It was a pitchers dual in game one as Lynx (10-33; 4-14 AMC) starter Michael Sabatino, of Wood River, did all he could do on the mound, while the Owls (22-16; 9-9 AMC) countered with Jacob Guilanelli and he was just as effective.
It was a scoreless game up until the home half of the third as Ryan Phillips would hit a two out double down the left field line. He would score one batter later as Jordan Dey singled to left, plating Phillips to make it a 1-0 game.
In game two, the Lynx totaled one run on five hits as Cory Lubinski, Ethan Ruff, Roberts, Jordan Evans and Aaron David added the hits. On the mound, Roberts was dealt the loss as he allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out three in his eight innings of work.
This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Bearcats split twinbill while Cougars, Lynx lose."