Lebanon, Ill. – The SBU Baseball team was taking on the Bearcats of McKendree for the first time in conference play Friday afternoon. In the opening game of the four-game series, McKendree defeated Southwest Baptist 7-5, handing SBU just their second loss of the year. They head into the weekend with a 5-2 (2-1 GLVC) record.
 
McKendree was first on the board, plating a couple in the third and a couple in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead midway through the game. Colby Sneed reached in the 6^th on a double, later followed by a Jackson Soule walk. With those two on, Josh Scott blasted a homerun to put SBU on the board, trailing 4-3. The home Bearcats responded rather quickly, scoring three of their own in the 6^th to go ahead 7-3. In the next inning, Sam Avila led off with a triple to center, later scoring on a wild pitch. Another SBU run was scored in the 8^th on a Blake Lutgen homerun, but the game would end 7-5 in favor of McKendree.
 
Blake Lutgen was the only SBU player with a multi-hit game, going 2-4 at the plate. Kyle Smith went 5.0, surrendering 8 hits and 5 earned runs in the loss.
 
The teams will meet for a doubleheader tomorrow, Saturday, March 20 with game one scheduled for 11:00 AM.