The Lindenwood baseball team had great pitching on Saturday and saw a solid day at the plate from the offense to sweep the Bearcats in the weekend doubleheader by scores of 5-2 and 8-1 respectively.

The Lions fell behind in the first after a solo home run put the Bearcats up 1-0.  Lindenwood tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a Wade Rothermich single that drove in Wes Degener from second.  The Lions took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third as Degener led off with a single and moved to third on a hard hit double by Nathan Prindle.  Rothermich flied out to left field but it was deep enough to allow Degener to score and put the Lions up 2-1.

Mike Wilson led off the fourth inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Branden Sugar pinch hit and pounded a double to right field driving in Wilson and extending the Lindenwood lead to 3-1.  The Lions tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as Degener legged out an infield single with two outs.  Ryan Light mashed a double to deep centerfield allowing Degener to score and Wilson drove in Light on a triple to right center and gave Lindenwood a 5-1 lead after five innings.

Dylan Terrell struck out six Bearcat batters as he threw five strong innings for the Lions allowing just one run on four hits.  Connor Law earned his first save of the year in two innings of work and helped Lindenwood to a 5-2 game one win.

In game two the Lions immediately jumped on the board starting with a double down the left field line by Prindle.  Rothermich continues his great career at Lindenwood as he added another RBI to his stat sheet on a triple down the right field line.  Quinones drove in Rothermich on a single to right field.  Wilson later hit a single to left field that would have loaded the bases but a botched play by the leftfielder allowed Quinones to score.  Michael Bibbs singled to load the bases and Sugar drove in Light on a sacrifice fly to right and put the Lions up 4-0.

Brendan Kleekamp had a great day on the bump tossing 5 2/3 innings surrendering just one run on five hits and struck out two Bearcat batters.  The Lions held a three-run lead after two innings and continued to put up runs in the bottom of the third.  Light led off the third with a deep shot over the left field wall to extend the Lions lead.  Paul Sherwood drove in Wilson later in the inning on a single to give Lindenwood a 6-1 lead after the first three frames.

In the bottom of the fourth, Light and Wilson hit back-to-back doubles to put runners at the corners with two-outs.  Wilson moved to second on a wild pitch and Bibbs drove in both Light and Wilson on a hard hit double down the right field line.  The Lions held the Bearcats to one run in the game as Kleekamp had bullpen support from Brennan Hehner as he allowed just one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work. 

Lindenwood had great pitching all day as the staff held Southwest Baptist to just three runs on 11 hits and struck out 10 Bearcats batters in the Saturday doubleheader.  The offense generated runs on five doubles and two triples along with a Light home run in the two-game span.

The doubleheader sweep bumps the Lions record up to 21-18 overall and 12-11 in the MIAA.  The Lions will look to sweep the Bearcats on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo.