Eureka Softball Extends Win Streak to Four Games
NAPLES, Fla. – For the second day in a row, the Eureka softball team came away with a pair of wins on its 2024 spring break trip on Tuesday.
Day 2 of the 34th Annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic for the Red Devils included another blowout and another close win in dramatic fashion. The maroon and gold shut out Saint Joseph 11-0 and then edged Crown late, 3-2.
Eureka 11, Saint Joseph 0
The Red Devils' first shutout victory of the season came by way of no-hitter, courtesy of No. 1 pitcher Claire Wuethrich (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian).
The sophomore logged five hitless innings while striking out three and only walking one out of 18 batters faced. It was her first no-hit performance in her collegiate career and her first win in the circle of the season.
At the plate, the maroon and gold consistently put the ball in play, posting 11 runs on eight hits and four errors by the Blue Jays.
After a scoreless first inning, the Red Devils jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second. KayLee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln) did the most damage, producing a three-run double to make Saint Joseph pay for a series of three errors.
The following inning, Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Westville/Lincoln) drove in another with an RBI single to center field and Macey Whisker (Washington, Ill./Washington/Illinois Central College) had a sacrifice fly RBI to make it an eight-run game.
Klaire Morris (Billings, Mon./Billings Skyview/Williston State) plated a ninth run on an RBI single through the left side in the fourth, and then two more runs came home in the fifth after Ashlyn Voyles (Farmer City, Ill./Farmer City) singled through the left side to make it 10-0 and Whisker scored the last run of the game due to an error.
Hohlbauch and Morris each had two-hit showings for EC.
Eureka 3, Crown (Minn.) 2
Eureka snagged its fourth straight win after edging out Crown in a back-and-forth affair that came down to the last sequence of the game.
Leading 2-1 in the seventh inning, Crown tied it up with a run on three hits and loaded the bases.
After that, though, Eureka's Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central/Heartland) got Kaylee Fude to fly out to center field to leave all three runners stranded and give the Red Devils a chance to seize victory in the bottom half.
It happened after Bryant led off the inning with a single, stole second, advanced to third and scored the winning run on a throwing error.
The Red Devils walked away winners after only notching four hits on the day. They relied on pitching, base-running and Crown miscues in the field.
Sophomore pitcher Kloe Norris (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central) recorded her first win of the season in the circle after only allowing two runs on nine hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings og work. She also had three strikeouts.
Crown manufactured the first run of the game with a double and an RBI groundout in the first inning. Eureka responded when Hohlbauch stole home to tie the game in the bottom half. Two innings later, Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County/Lincoln) scored on an unanswered run on a throwing error to make it 2-1.
Bryant contributed a pair of hits in the win, while Voyles and Bre Dixon (Newark, Ill./Newark) each had one.