McKendree 6, Parkside 4
The Parkside baseball season-opener didn't go the way the Rangers planned, as they fell to McKendree 6-4. The Bearcats finished the game with 10 hits compared to Parkside's nine, and only committed one fielder error compared to two from the Rangers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
McKendree opened the scoring in the first inning on back-to-back solo home runs off of Parkside's starter redshirt-senior Aaron Cusimano. The Rangers responded back in the top of the third as redshirt-senior Austin Emanuel drove in redshirt-senior Casey Oliver on a double to center field. A Carlos Arteaga single to left field that scored Emanuel made it a 2-2 ball game. The Bearcats were able to get both runs back in the bottom half of the third to make it 4-2 McKendree.
 
The Rangers had a late push, scoring a run in each the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, Emanuel was hit by a pitch to open the inning and came in to score on a Garrett LaBreche RBI single to make it 5-3 McKendree. Parkside came within one run in the eighth inning thanks to an Arteaga walk with the bases loaded, but a strikeout ended the inning. The Bearcats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
STATWORTHY
A trio of Rangers finished with two hits, as Oliver went 2-for-4 with a run out of the leadoff spot, Emanuel went 2-for-2 with a double and two runs and LaBreche finished 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Arteaga went 1-for-4 with two RBI.
 
Cusimano was tagged with the loss after going 5.0 innings allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Emanuel finished the game on the mound, going 3.0 innings allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will battle McKendree in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 6 beginning at 11 a.m. They'll face the Bearcats once more on Sunday at noon.