Notebook: Red Devils Face Wet Weather, Busy Weekend Slate

EUREKA, Ill. – Following a seven-day stretch that has seen a pair of doubleheader postponements and more than an inch of rainfall, the Eureka College softball is scheduled to play six St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games in approximately 48 hours beginning Friday afternoon. The Red Devils will host Iowa Wesleyan in a doubleheader Friday at noon, followed by doubleheaders Saturday at noon at Westminster and Sunday at noon at Webster.

ABOUT EUREKA

The Red Devils own a 9-5 overall record and have won five of their last six contests since returning from their annual spring trip to North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Eureka is hitting .315 as a team through 14 games, anchored by six different regular starters with averages of .278 or better. Sophomore shortstop Kerrigan Dura has a .425/.521/.625 line with two doubles, three triples and nine RBI in 40 at-bats. Senior catcher Lexi Litwiller adds a .385 average and junior Kali George is hitting .317.

George and freshman Erin Smith have four wins apiece in the pitching circle. George has a 2.43 ERA, followed by Smith at 3.53. Each players has logged 22 strikeouts this season.

Eureka finally opened its 18-game SLIAC schedule last Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader from Principia to begin the league slate 2-0 for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in 11 seasons as a member of the league.

EC rallied for a 4-3 win Saturday in game one and later rolled to a 21-0 victory in five innings in game two. The 21-run margin of victory in game two was Eureka's largest since beating Rust (Miss.) 21-0 on March 15, 2011. The Red Devils have won all 19 meetings with PC since 1995, including a 17-0 mark in SLIAC action since the Panthers revived their softball program prior to the 2010 season.

Dura, Litwiller and George each had two hits in game one. George drove in two. Eureka recorded nine hits as a team. All nine starters had at least one hit in the nightcap. Morgan Osborn and George led the Red Devils with three hits apiece.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

The Red Devils are hitting .346 (74-for-214) as a team with runners on base, led by a .448 clip (13-for-29) from Lexi Litwiller and a .409 mark (9-for-22) from Morgan Osborn … Eureka has been even more productive when runners are in scoring position, going 53-for-137 (.387) … Litwiller is 9-for-15 (.600) and both Osborn and Courtney Kurtz are 8-for-14 (.571) with a runner on second and/or third base … Kurtz leads the Red Devils with eight 2-out RBI …  Osborn has hit safely in four straight games, going 6-for-15 with five runs scored, five RBI, two doubles and her first collegiate home run in that time frame … Kerrigan Dura and Litwiller lead the Red Devil in multi-hit games with five apiece … Madaline Kane is hitting .500 (6-for-12) when batting seventh in the order.

Erin Sith has been outstanding when pitching with the bases empty, limiting opponents to a .189 average (14-for-74) … Eureka has yet to allow a home run in 339 at bats this season.

IOWA WESLEYAN AT EUREKA (Friday DH at noon)

After rain forced the originally scheduled doubleheader to be postponed Wednesday, Eureka will welcome Iowa Wesleyan Friday at noon for two games. The contests represent EC's first two conference home games of 2017.

The Tigers are 5-9 overall and 2-0 in the SLIAC after sweeping a doubleheader from Blackburn last Saturday. IWU also owns victories over Penn State-Hazleton, Morrisville State and Harris-Stowe.

Senior Caitlin O'Neill is hitting .386 in 14 appearances to lead an IWU offense that has a team average of .272. Sophomore Sydnee Stalker hits .342.

IWU has used four pitchers this season, but the duo of sophomore Julie Dodd and junior Samantha McIlwain has combined to throw 72.0 of the Tigers' 80.0 innings. Dodd owns a 4.24 ERA and McIlwain strikes out 10.39 opposing hitters per seven innings.

Longtime IWU head coach Mike Hampton is in his 24th season as head coach of the Tigers. He is nearing the 600-win plateau in Mount Pleasant and has won more than 1,000 softball games between the high school and collegiate levels. He is a 1972 graduate of Iowa Wesleyan.

The Red Devils and Tigers have played six times since IWU joined the SLIAC prior to the 2014 season. Iowa Wesleyan owns a 4-2 series lead. The two squads split the only previous twin bill in Eureka on April 15, 2015.

EUREKA AT WESTMINSTER (Saturday DH at noon)

Eureka will visit SLIAC rival Westminster on Saturday at noon for a doubleheader in Fulton, Mo.

Westminster is 11-9 overall and the winner of seven consecutive games dating back to March 19. The Blue Jays are 4-0 in SLIAC play, outscoring their opponents 45-4 thanks to doubleheader sweeps of MacMurray and Spalding.

Senior infielder Erica Burney hits .407/.529/.556 to lead a Westminster offense with a team batting average of .309. Each of the six most frequently used hitters in the WC lineup hit .323 or better.

In the circle, freshman Katie Price has a 4.11 ERA in a team-high 49.1 innings. She strikes out 4.47 batters per seven innings. Senior Alyson Hahn has 3.39 ERA in 41.1 innings. The WC staff owns a 5.39 ERA overall.

The 2017 season is Joe Henderson's third as head coach at Westminster. The Valdosta State graduate guided the Blue Jays to the championship game of the 2016 SLIAC Tournament

Westminster owns a 14-11 record against Eureka since the 2006 season, but the Red Devils are 8-6 against the Blue Jays at home. EC swept last season's regular-season doubleheader on April 3, 2016, but the Blue Jays topped the Red Devils 2-1 in the opening round of the 2016 SLIAC Tournament.

EUREKA AT WEBSTER (Sunday DH at noon)

Less than 24 hours after Saturday's contests in Fulton, Eureka will make the 106-mile drive east to St. Louis for a noon doubleheader against Webster on Sunday. The contests were originally scheduled for March 29, but were rescheduled due to inclement weather.

The Gorloks enter the week with a 15-8 overall record and a 3-1 mark against SLIAC opponents. WU is scheduled to host Iowa Wesleyan this Saturday before playing Eureka on Sunday.

Newcomer Abby Burroughs has a team-best .423 batting average (33-for-78) with four home runs and 21 RBI. She slugs at a .679 clip, anchoring a WU offense with a slash line of .317/.406/.467. The Gorloks have clubbed 15 home runs as a team.

The trio of Morgan Mansur, Chelsea Thornley and Alexis Spriggs handles a healthy balance of the pitching responsibilities. All three players have thrown at least 40.2 innings. Mansur leads the group with 54.1 innings pitched, 33 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA. The group has combined for a 3.16 ERA.

Chris Eaton is in his ninth season as head coach as Webster. The 1998 graduate of Missouri-St. Louis has piloted WU to two SLIAC regular-season titles and the 2009 SLIAC Tournament championship. He entered the 2017 campaign with a 153-146 record in St. Louis.

Eureka and Webster have played 25 times since 1995. The Gorloks have controlled the series, posting a 23-2 mark against the Red Devils, including an 8-0 record in St. Louis. Eureka snapped a 12-game skid in the series with last season's doubleheader split in Eureka.