No. 12 Webster Completes Sweep of Red Devils
SAUGET, Ill. – Last year, Eureka baseball edged Webster during a three-game St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series and earned its first victory over a nationally ranked team on record.
On Sunday at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, the 12th-ranked Gorloks wouldn't let the Red Devils do it again.
After trailing by a run for the first three innings, Webster took the lead with a three-run fourth inning, then added five in the fifth and three in the sixth en route to an 11-2 SLIAC victory.
Webster's win completed a SLIAC sweep over the Red Devils, who fell to 4-8 on the season and 0-3 in the SLIAC. The Gorloks, who are now 13-5 and 3-3, beat EC 4-2 and 10-0 on Saturday.
Eureka senior leadoff man Sean Green (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk. He also scored the team's first run of the game in the first inning after an RBI double by fellow Grant Mullin (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita).
The team's other run came in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Braxten Ary (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) that scored Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville), who walked.
The Red Devils' best chance to extend its early lead happened in the third inning, when they loaded the bases with no outs. Webster pitcher Matt Mulhearn, however, struck out back-to-back batters and got a groundout to escape with zero damage done.
Mulhearn replaced starter Garrett Davis after two innings and delivered three perfect frames for the Gorloks to earn the win. EC pitcher Brock Pettit (Ashland, Ill. / A-C Central) recorded the loss after conceding seven earned runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Webster only had one hit in the first three innings, but the team ended up outhitting EC 16-6. For the Gorloks, Matt Staker went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, Danny Strohm went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Kyler Kent and Nate Throll had two hits apiece.
After a challenging week, Eureka has the week off from competition to recover. The Red Devils will return to action next weekend, when they host Iowa Wesleyan in their first home series of the year. The last time EC faced the Tigers, the Red Devils notched their first SLIAC sweep since 2013.