Photo courtesy of Michelle Curl.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Curl.

Spalding Picks Up Sweep over Red Devils

EUREKA – The Spalding baseball team showed up at Eureka College after a five-hour bus ride on Wednesday and showed off its power.

The Golden Eagles hit six home runs en route to a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep over the Red Devils at Henry Sand Field.

Eureka dropped an 11-4 Game 1, and Game 2 was called in the sixth inning due to darkness with Spalding holding an 11-4 advantage.

The Red Devils are now 9-15 on the season and 4-8 in SLIAC play.

Game 1: Spalding 12, Eureka 5

The Red Devils hung with the Golden Eagles for the first five innings. After Spalding tallied three runs in the first inning, Eureka scratched a run across in the first, third and fifth innings.

But in the sixth, the visitors took the lead on a bases-loaded walk by Quenton Brownlee before Evan Trentman cranked a grand slam to right field to open a five-run lead.

Then, in the seventh, Garrett Wilson and Eric Meyer both delivered bombs as well, driving in four more Spalding runs.

The Red Devils (nine hits) finished with only one less hit than the Golden Eagles (10 hits), but they only scored more than one run in a frame once, and it came when the game was all but out of reach in the seventh.

Joe Quinn (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs for the Red Devils. Dean Moir (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) went 3-for-4 and drove in three. Drew Thoele (Morton, Ill./Morton) had a double and two hits.

Sean Green (Peoria, Ill./Limestone), who is second in the SLIAC in stolen bases (20) and third in batting average (.409), swiped two more, added a hit and a walk and scored twice.

Game 2: Spalding 11, Eureka 4 (6 inn.)

Spalding racked up eight runs before the Red Devils could get on the board in Game 2.

In the fourth inning, Eureka notched three runs on two hits – a single by Green and a two-run double to left-center by Thoele. Quinn walked in a run with the bases loaded after Green's single.

Two innings later, though, the Golden Eagles tacked on three more runs on four hits, including a sixth and final homer for the day. EC put one more run on the board with a bases-loaded walk by Braxten Ary (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) in the bottom half before the game was called due to darkness at the frame's end.

Thoele had another solid game at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Green went 2-for-4 and scored a run.

The Red Devils ultimately tallied seven hits to Spalding's 16.

Up Next: The Red Devils will host another SLIAC doubleheader on Saturday when Blackburn comes to Henry Sand Field. First pitch is at 1 p.m.