Fontbonne Bests Eureka in West Division Series Finale, 6-1

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Braxten Ary (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central H.S.) went 2-for-4 with his ninth career double and Gregory Cluskey (East Peoria, Ill./Metamora H.S.) struck out five over 7.0 innings in his second career start, but Fontbonne scored three times in the fourth inning to break a tied score and added later insurance in the eighth to secure a 6-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Eureka College baseball team, Saturday afternoon at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo.

The defeat moved the Red Devils' record to 3-8-1 overall and 0-5 in the SLIAC.

Ryan Schocker's leadoff home run in the second inning gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. Eureka quickly evened the score at 1-1 when a groundout from Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville H.S.) plated Ary, who started the inning with a double to center field.

Fontbonne took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning. Matt Tossick doubled home a pair in front of Jonathan Hoevelmann, who extended the FBU lead to 4-1 with another run-scoring double. The tally remained 4-1 until Gus Purschke pushed the Fontbonne lead to 6-1 with a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Eureka had nine hits as a team, but left the bases loaded in the second, seventh and ninth innings and stranded 15 overall. Grant Mullin (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) joined Ary as Red Devils to have a multi-hit game.

The Red Devils are scheduled to return home Monday for a noon SLIAC doubleheader against Principia at Henry Sand Field.