Eureka College baseball splits a pair Saturday in Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss. – Freshman catcher Grant Mullin (Hegewisch, Ill./St. Rita) singled down the left field line driving in the game-tying run, and senior infielder Nick Passini (Dalzell, Ill./St. Bede Academy [Illinois Valley]) doubled to right center three batters later to bring home the go-ahead run, earning the Red Devils a 4-3 victory over NAIA-affiliate Tougaloo College in game one of a double header, Saturday on the campus of Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss.
Eureka got on the board first in the third inning on a sac fly from sophomore outfielder Trever Zeibert (Monee, Ill./Peotone) that plated Mullin.
Tougaloo answered with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead moving into the latter innings of play.
The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 3-1 in the sixth when Deshawn Pittman doubled to left center to bring home Jasper James.
Freshman infielder Jake Miller (Washington, Ill./Washington) got the furious rally in the seventh inning started with a single to second base, later advancing to second on a throwing error by the TC second baseman. In the following at-bat sophomore outfielder Jake Schnulle(Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock North [Cardinal Stitch]) brought home Miller with a double to left center to slice the Bulldog advantage to 3-2.
Senior John Kurtz (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) got the starting nod on the bump, firing 5.1 innings of five-hit ball while giving up one earned run. Classmate Trevor Froehling (Cissna Park, Ill./Cissna Park [Millikin]) tossed the final 1.2 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one to pick up the victory.
Lige Mims Jr. went the distance on the mound for the host, allowing four runs, three earned, over 7.0 innings of work. Mims Jr. surrendered five hits and four walks, while striking out three.
The Belhaven University Blazers used a fast start to secure a 9-0 lead through two innings of play in the afternoon contest, eventually racing away with a 15-1 victory.
Sophomore infielder Wyatt Froehling (Cissna Park, Ill./Cissna Park) collected his first hit of the season, driving in outfielder and classmate Ray Vogel (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) with a single to left field.
Tanner Cable allowed one hit and no runs over five innings of work on the mound for the Blazers, adding 6 strikeouts to capture the victory.
Eureka (1-2) will head to New Orleans, Louisiana tomorrow to play a JV double header against Delgado Community College. The junior college powerhouse was a preseason top-10 team according to a poll released by njcaa.org. The Red Devils continue in Louisiana Monday with a single contest against Loyola (La.) University.