Red Devils Fall Short in Extras at Webster, 9-8
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eureka softball team came back from down five runs and forced extra innings at Webster on Friday, but the Gorloks managed to hang on.
Webster topped the Red Devils, 9-8, in the eighth inning, and then made it a sweep with an 8-2 win in Game 2.
Game 1: Webster 9, Eureka 8 (8 inn.)
Eureka's comeback began in the fifth inning. After Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central/Heartland) and Ashlyn Voyles (Farmer City, Ill./Farmer City) singled to put two on KayLee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln) homered to left field to make it a two-run game. It was her first dinger of the season and her second as a Red Devil.
The maroon and gold kept it going in the sixth with three runs off four hits and a Webster error. Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland), Bri Tanksley (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Bismark-Henning/Rossville-Alvin/Lincoln) all singled to load the bases with no outs. Macey Whisker (Washington, Ill./Washington/Illinois Central College) singled to drive in one, Wheeler grounded out and brought home another and Bryant scored on an error that made it 6-5 and gave EC its first lead of the game.
In the bottom half, however, the Red Devils got into a bit of trouble and conceded a pair of runs on one hit, one error, a hit batsman and two walks.
Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh, EC successfully manufactured the game-tying run, but the go-ahead remained out of reach. Bryant drove it in with two on, then Webster got back-to-back groundouts to get out of it.
The eighth inning got off to a promising start, with Eureka taking an 8-7 advantage following a sac fly RBI, but in the bottom half, the Gorloks struck twice. A walk, double and error allowed two runs to score and clinch the win for the home team.
The Red Devils finished with 14 hits in a losing effort. Whisker, Voyles, Bryant and Mackenzie Daniels (Monticello, Ill./Monticello) each had a pair of hits.
Game 2: Webster 8, Eureka 2
Runs were harder to come by for the Red Devils in Game 2. The team scratched two across on seven hits.
An RBI double by Voyles in the third made it 2-1. The Gorloks then answered with four in the bottom half and tacked on two more in the fourth.
Wheeler plated the last run of the game with an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Whisker finished 2-for-4 with a double. Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County) also had a pair of hits.
Up Next
Eureka (8-9) will next take on Cornell College (2-5) on the road on Tuesday in a non-conference doubleheader at 4 p.m.