The Lions have won seven of their last eight and are now 19-3 on the season. (Photo courtesy Lindenwood Athletics)
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The Lindenwood University baseball team played its second straight road weekend series this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the Lions made the trip a good one by taking three of four over host McKendree University.
The three victories gave Lindenwood seven in its last eight games and raised the team’s overall season record to 19-3. The Lions are also 15-3 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and remain in first place in the GLVC Blue Division standings.
In the series opener on Friday though, it was McKendree that looked like that nationally ranked team, as it jumped on Lindenwood early and pounded its way to a 10-2 victory.
On Saturday, the host Bearcats grabbed early leads in both games again. But the Lions were able to rally both times for a pair of exciting wins.
In Saturday’s Game 1, Lindenwood rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-3. Senior first baseman Mitchell Krebs had two hits and scored a run, while teammates Calvin Nowak and Beau Collier drove in two runs apiece.
Starter Blake Beckmann also gave a stellar effort on the mound to get the win. The senior righthander from Germantown, Ill., tossed six strong innings for the Lions, and gave up just three runs (all of which were unearned), and struck out 11 McKendree batters, while walking none to improve his personal season record to 3-1.
In Game 2 on Saturday, Lindenwood was down 4-2 after five innings, but bounced back with six runs in the sixth inning which eventually led to an 8-7 win. McKendree gave the Lions some extra help in that sixth inning, as the Bearcats walked Lindenwood two batters, hit two Lindenwood batters, and threw three wild pitches (two of which allowed Lindenwood runners to score).
Senior third baseman Alex Canty got the key hit of the inning for the Lions, blasting a two-run double into the left-centerfield gap that gave Lindenwood the lead for good at 6-4.
Sophomore Niko Marshall came in in relief and got a couple of key outs to get the win, his third of the season. And teammate Brady Roach pitched the final inning of the game to get his fifth save of the season.
After a Friday and Saturday of opposing team blowouts and late-game rallies, the final game of the series was all Lindenwood. The Lions scored two runs in the first, two more in the second and another three in the fourth to lead 7-0 going into the bottom of the fourth.
McKendree tried to battle back by scoring two runs of its own in its half of the fourth, but Lindenwood added two more runs in the fifth and a run each in the sixth and seventh to eventually win the game 11-2.
Junior shortstop Kolby Schulte was the offensive star of that final game, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a single, a double, his second home run of the season, a stolen base, and three RBIs. Catcher Austin Schmitt had two hits, scored three runs, and also blasted his first homer of the season as Lindenwood racked up 13 total hits.
Starting pitcher Jacob Thompson (4-0) picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season by going seven innings, with only two runs allowed on six hits, with four strikeouts and just one walk.
After a day off on Monday, the Lions will be back on the road Tuesday, when they’ll travel to Indiana for a doubleheader against the University of Indianapolis. Lindenwood’s next set of home games will come this weekend, when the Lions will host a four-game set against Southern Indiana.