LEBANON, Ill. — No. 20 McKendree (Ill.) swept Truman State in a Great Lakes Valley Conference softball doubleheader Sunday, winning the opener 5-3 and taking the nightcap 11-7. The Bulldogs return home for two more league twin bills, starting Saturday with Upper Iowa in Kirksville.

In the first game, the Bearcats (15-6; 3-1 GLVC) jumped ahead early against the Bulldogs (14-13; 3-1 GLVC). Lauren Harris doubled home two runs in the first off Kaylyn Jones (7-2), scoring Laynee Tapp and Morgan Spodarek, and Molly Bartz added an RBI single in the third for a 3-0 lead. Truman State cut it to 3-1 in the fourth when Emily Wood doubled in pinch-runner Ryleigh Jones off Sami Huck (7-2), who scattered seven hits and struck out 10 without a walk. The Bearcats pulled away with two unearned runs in the fifth. Nina Fenasci's two-run homer in the seventh off Huck narrowed it to 5-3, but Huck struck out Michaela Goad to secure the win.

The second game saw McKendree rally from a 2-0 deficit after Madi McCarty's two-run double off Ellie Vetter in the second. Spodarek's solo homer off Charlotte Chelich (3-7) in the bottom half made it 2-1, and the Bearcats erupted for seven runs in the third. Harris tripled in two, Spodarek singled in another, and Sydney Roth and Tapp added RBI singles, building an 8-2 lead. Truman State answered with a run in the fourth on McCarty's fielder's choice, scoring Camryn Kinsella, but Spodarek's two-run single in the fifth pushed it to 11-4. The Bulldogs rallied for three in the sixth off Paige McAllister, with Maddie Hickman's RBI single and Avaree Taylor's two-run single closing it to 11-7. McAllister allowed a double to Kyleia Salyars in the seventh but retired McCarty to end it.

Cassie Smith ran her hitting streak to 22 games, going 3-for-6 on the afternoon.