EAST PEORIA, Ill.- For the first time in two months, Drury lost twice on the same day, and the Panthers were knocked out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament falling to second-seeded McKendree 9-1 in the winner's bracket semifinals and to Maryville 3-0 in a second-round elimination game on Friday at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
 
In Drury's first game of the day, the Panthers struck first as Kinzy Mathis belted a solo home run in the opening frame to put her team in front 1-0. McKendree took advantage of three first-inning walks and took a 2-1 lead on a single by Shelby Summer that produced two runs.
 
The Bearcats (25-11) built on that lead with home runs from Jenny Homann, Summer, and Paige Hayden. McKendree then put the game away with three runs in the sixth, scoring two runs on a triple from Miranda Gajewski and an RBI single by Homann that gave the Bearcats a 9-1 lead.
 
Ellie Quaethem (12-6) got the win for McKendree, going 5.1 innings allowing five hits and one earned run, with no walks and five strikeouts. Bailee Nixon (5-4) took the loss for the Panthers.
 
Maryville starter Alyssa Callans (17-6) faced just one batter over the minimum as she tossed a one-hitter in a 3-0 win over Drury in the Panthers' second game of the day.
 
Callans opened the game with a walk to Devin Hale, but Drury's next batter lined into a double play. Hale got Drury's only hit in the game with a lead-off single in the fourth, but the Saints erased that with a 6-3 double-play. Hale would reach base again with a lead-off walk in the third but would be left stranded as Callans went seven innings allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five.
 
Maryville scored single runs in the first, third and sixth.
 
Haylee Van Deventer (6-6) kept the Panthers in the contest as she worked all six innings in the loss. Van Deventer gave up back-to-back doubles in the first inning but did not surrender an extra-base hit after that and forced Maryville into seven stranded runners in six innings.
 
Kim DeBold drove in two of the three Saints runs as she had an RBI double in the first inning and added a sacrifice fly in the third.
 
Maryville (21-15), the fourth seed on the bracket, advances to Game 12 of the tournament on Saturday at noon and will face the winner of Indianapolis and Lewis, who will play one another later tonight.
 
Drury ends their season with a 26-16 record, and their .619 winning percentage is the team's best mark since 2012 and their second-best percentage in program history. The Panthers were seeded third in the tournament, their highest placement in the postseason in nine years, and their second-best seeded ever.
 
 
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