LEBANON, Ill. – Lewis baseball split their ninth consecutive doubleheader on Friday (April 29) afternoon in a twin bill at Great Lakes Valley Conference foe McKendree. The Flyers won game one 8-2 before being edged 1-0 in game two.

Game One – Lewis 8, McKendree 2 (HTML Box | PDF Box)
The Flyers did their damage in the middle innings. Lewis started the scoring with a run in the top of the third on an RBI single by senior Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central). They opened it up with three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth.

McKendree scored single runs in the seventh and eighth.
All nine Lewis starters recorded a hit. Of Lewis' 15 hits, 13 were singles and two were doubles. Senior Kurt Becker (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) went 4-of-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Senior Chris Pikoulas (Frankfort, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and sophomore Sam Cybulski (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Lyons Township) each knocked in two runs.

Junior Alex Shake (Glasford, Ill./Canton) threw eight innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) with 10 hits. He struck out 10 Bearcats. Shake moves his record to 5-3.

Sam Lindsey took the loss for McKendree. He is 0-4.

Game Two – McKendree 1, Lewis 0 (HTML Box | PDF Box)
The nightcap saw just one run scored. Junior Sam Couch (Bolingbrook, Ill./Joliet Catholic) was the hard luck loser for the Flyers. He went six innings, giving up one run with seven hits while striking out eight. He didn't walk a single batter. His record drops to 2-3.

McKendree starter Nick Yung went the distance, allowing four hits in 7.0 innings. He is now 4-3 with the shutout victory.

"Our pitching was great all day," Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said. "I thought our hitters needed to make better adjustments in game two. Yung threw a good game and did a nice job working both sides of the plate."

The Lewis offense had their chances, stranding runners in every inning except the third. In the ninth, freshman Brandon Post (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) opened the inning with a four-pitch walk. He moved to second with one out and then to third with two outs but Lewis couldn't get him home.

The only run of the game came in the fourth when Isaac Fisher singled and scored two batters later for the Bearcats.

Junior Austin Schultz (Greensburg, Ind./Greensburg) had two of Lewis' four hits.

"I really like our chances tomorrow if we pitch and play defense like we did today," McDonough said.

Lewis and McKendree will play a doubleheader on Saturday (April 30) in a noon start.

McKendree finishes the day 14-28 (6-16 GLVC). Lewis is now 23-18 (12-10 GLVC).