Spalding Takes Two from Eureka, 10-2, 3-1
EUREKA – Spalding got the best of the Eureka softball team on Saturday, winning the first game 10-2 in five innings and barely edging the Red Devils, 3-1, in Game 2.
The second game was the game of the day, and it featured two strong pitching performances.
For Eureka, freshman Mady Bultemeier (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) went all seven innings in the circle and only allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks. She also notched a career-high six strikeouts.
Spalding's Michaela Ferman, meanwhile, held the Red Devils to one run on six hits and one walk while posting nine strikeouts.
The Golden Eagles got on the board in the first inning with a pair of singles. Bella Velez's RBI single to center scored Grayce Marcum and made it 1-0.
The following inning, they struck again, scoring a second run on a throwing error and a third on a single to center field.
The Red Devils responded in the bottom of the inning when KayLee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln) led off with a single, stole and second, advanced to third on a single by Klaire Morris (Laurel, Mont./Billings Skyview/Williston State) and scored on an error in left field.
Eureka then loaded the bases, with Christine Mepham (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) reaching on a fielding error and Tressa Grisham (East Peoria, Ill./Morton) reaching on a bunt single. However, Ferman managed to get out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly-out, limiting Eureka to just one run.
That ended up being the maroon and gold's best chance to score the rest of the way. The home squad put a runner on in all but one of the remaining innings, but nothing came to fruition.
Morris went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Red Devils, while Macey Whisker (Washington, Ill./Washington/Illinois Central College), Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone), Hohlbauch and Grisham each contributed a base hit.
Game 1: Spalding 10, Eureka 2 (5 inn.)
The Golden Eagles got the bats going and took advantage of a few defensive miscues to steadily pull away from the Red Devils in Game 1.
Eureka scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to make it 6-2, then Spalding came back with four more in the fifth.
Bri Tanksley (Spring Bay, Ill./Metamora) drove in the first Eureka run with an RBI single up the middle and Ashlyn Voyles (Blue Ridge, Ill./Farmer City) stole home to record the second run.
Morros, Hohlbauch, Voyles and Tanksley each had a hit in the loss.
Velez got the win in the circle for Spalding, conceding two runs on four hits and two walks and fanning four batters.
