BELLEVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University baseball team completed a three-game sweep of McKendree, taking down the Bearcats 8-1 Saturday (March 31) in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Whitey Herzog Field. The fourth game of the series was canceled due to wet playing conditions.

With the win the Flyers moved above .500 in the GLVC at 4-3, while their overall record moved to 10-14-1. McKendree fell to 5-19 overall, 1-6 in GLVC.

Lewis dominated throughout the seven-inning game, outhitting the Bearcats 15-2 for the contest. The Flyers got on the board first in the third inning as a Connor Rutherford (DePere, Wis./DePere) double scored Jermaine Terry (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South). They picked up two more runs in the fourth as Anthony Cavalieri (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) singled with the bases loaded, scoring both Terry and Anthony Rios (Lemont, Ill./St. Laurence).

McKendree got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a home run to make it 3-1, but Lewis scored five runs in the seventh to put the score out of reach. Trayvon Johnson (Berkeley, Ill./St. Joseph's) doubled, scoring Rutherford and Cavalieri. Austin Tittle (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) singled home Johnson and Rios singled in TIttle. Sam Cybulski (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Lyons Township) finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Neal Tyrell (Minooka, Ill./Minooka).

Cavalieri finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Rutherford, Tittle, Tyrell, Rios and Terry (2 runs) all had two hits. George Manikas (Lockport, Ill./Joliet Catholic) went the distance on the mound to move to 1-1 on the year. He allowed just two hits and one earned run in seven innings, striking out three batters.

The Flyers will step out of conference for a midweek double header with Upper Iowa Wednesday (April 4) at 1 p.m.