Spalding Takes Two from Eureka

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Spalding took two from the Eureka baseball team in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Sunday.

Eureka came up short in 3-1 in the first game of the day, and the Golden Eagles pulled away in the later innings for an 11-1 win in Game 2.

Game 1: Spalding 3, Eureka 1

Eureka plated the first run of the day on an RBI single by Garrett Flaagan (Eagle, Ill./Eagle Valley/Williston State) that scored Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) in the second inning, but the Golden Eagles got one back in the third, took the lead on an unearned run in the fifth and added one more on an unearned run in the seventh to take it 3-1.

The Red Devils had five hits in the game and put runners on in six of nine innings, but they couldn't scratch anymore across the rest of the way.

Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville), Chase Ulrich (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Illinois Central College), David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and Flaagan each had one base hit.

Eureka pitcher Mike Dunne (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Lincoln Land) pitched eight innings and only gave up one earned run on 10 hits and one and had six strikeouts.

Game 2: Spalding 11, Eureka 1 (8 inn.)

The Red Devils got on the board first again. Ulrich's RBI single to left-center scored Dunne in the third inning to make it 1-0, and the lead held until the fifth inning. That was when Spalding's Matthew McDowell delivered a two-run triple to center to give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 advantage.

The home team proceeded to add two more runs in the sixth, another in the seventh and six more in the eighth to end it early.

The Red Devils had its opportunities, notching eight hits and putting at least one runner on in five of the eight innings.

Dunne went 2-for-4 with a double. Brenden Eigenbrod (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln/Lincoln College) contributed a pair of base hits, while Demetrius Schupp (La Salle, Ill./St. Bede Academy/Illinois Valley), Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk), Davis and Ulrich each had one.

Eureka pitcher Ryan Bredeson (Washington, Ill./Washington) threw four scoreless innings before things got a little rocky in the fifth, sixth and seventh. He notched three strikeouts and only allowed one walk while conceding five runs on 12 hits in six innings.

Up Next

When the Red Devils (6-14, 4-5 SLIAC) return home, they will prepare to host SLIAC preseason No. 1 Webster (9-8, 3-1 SLIAC) in a three-game series next weekend. Eureka will open the series with the Gorloks at 1 p.m. Friday and then wrap it up with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.