EC baseball takes two from Lincoln Christian on Senior Day

EUREKA, Ill. – Sophomore Ray Vogel (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) finished 5-for-6 at the dish, knocking in six runs and scoring three times, pacing the Eureka College baseball team to a pair of non-conference victories over Lincoln Christian on Senior Day, Sunday afternoon at Henry Sand Field. Eureka narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win in the opener, before comfortably taking game two, 10-1.

Tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh of game one and with runners on second and third, senior Nick Passini (Dalzell, Ill./St. Bede Academy [IVCC]) hit a grounder that was misplayed by LCU's third baseman and rolled into left field allowing freshman Grant Mullin (Hegewisch, Ill./St. Rita) to score the game-winning run.

Mullin scored both of Eureka's runs in the opener, while Vogel finished 3-for-3 at the plate.

Senior Nick Finney (Washington, Ill./Washington [IVCC]) limited the Red Lions to one run on six hits to pick up his second win of the season. Finney struck out a season-high seven batters and walked two.

After a slow start to game two, the Red Devils busted it open by scoring three runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth.

Vogel extended Eureka's lead with a run-scoring single in the fourth and EC tacked on another run to push the lead to 4-1 when freshman Max Marcoux (Jennings County, Ind./Jennings County) was awarded home on a balk call. Passini capped the fourth with an RBI-single that platted Vogel.

With the bases loaded and the Red Devils holding a 6-1 one edge in the home half of the fifth, Vogel launched a shot that just cleared the left field wall for his first career grand slam and seventh home run of the season. Vogel drove in five runners in the nightcap.

Freshman Mitch Smith (Morton, Ill./Morton) tossed all seven innings to pick up his first collegiate win. The right-hander scattered six hits and struck out a personal-best seven batters.

Today's victories mark the final home contests for seniors Passini, Finney, Trevor Froehling (Cissna Park, Ill./Cissna Park [Millikin]), Seth Aydt (Washington, Ill./Washington) and John Kurtz (Minooka, Ill./Minooka).

Kurtz tossed out the first pitch prior to the contest. A deserving tip of the cap to the senior who has done so much for the EC baseball program both on and off the field.

The Red Devils will conclude their 2016 season Tuesday in Greenville, first pitch against the Panthers is set for 5 p.m. The double header was originally scheduled for this past Saturday but was washed out.