Red Devils Upend #25 Webster in Sunday Finale
EUREKA, Ill. -- Joe Quinn (Coal City, Ill./Coal City H.S./Illinois Valley) gave up one run on three hits in a complete-game effort on the mound and Grant Mullin (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) drilled the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Eureka College baseball team to a 2-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division triumph over 25th-ranked Webster, Sunday afternoon at Henry Sand Field. The Gorloks earned a 7-6 win earlier Sunday in the resumption of the middle game of the weekend series.
The Red Devils' win on Sunday is the program's first on record over a nationally ranked opponent and ended an 18-game skid in the series with Webster dating back to Eureka's previous victory, an 11-6 triumph at Henry Sand Field on April 23, 2012.
EC 2, Webster 1
Quinn produced his second consecutive league start in which he allowed one run or less, striking out four over the full 9.0 innings. The effort lowered his overall season ERA to 1.99 and his SLIAC ERA to 1.08. He threw 125 pitches, 74 for strikes, and allowed only one extra-base hit during the afternoon.
Ben Dinter's RBI single in the top of the first inning gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead, but Eureka punched back in the bottom of the frame with an unearned run. Sean Green (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S./Robert Morris-Peoria) reached on an error, stole second base and later scored on Mullin's sacrifice fly for a 1-1 tie.
Mullin delivered the decisive blow for the hosts in the eighth inning, lifting a solo home run over the left-field fence with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning against WU starter Austin Beccue. The homer was Mullin's fifth of the spring. Quinn did the rest in the ninth, inducing two flyouts and a groundout to give Eureka its second league win of the season.
Braxten Ary (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central H.S.) and Evan Smith (Moline, Ill./Moline H.S./Sauk Valley) had two hits apiece for Eureka in the win.
Saturday's Suspended Game: Webster 7, EC 6
Webster won the second game of the three-game weekend series when Saturday's nightcap was resumed Sunday after being halted by darkness.
Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville H.S.) went 3-for-5 to lead a Eureka lineup that produced 10 hits. Gregory Cluskey (East Peoria, Ill./Metamora H.S.) allowed only two earned runs and struck out six over 5.1 innings.
Kyler Kent delivered a two-run double for WU in the top of the first inning. Eureka eventually leveled the score at 2-2 thanks to an RBI groundout from Mullin in the first and another run-scoring groundout from Ary in the third.
The Gorloks took advantage of a two-out error to reclaim a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, but Eureka responded again and took its first lead of the series in the bottom of the inning when Green pounded a two-run double into the left-center field gap for a 4-3 advantage. The Red Devils' lead swelled to 5-3 when Carter singled and scored on a fielder's choice.
Webster inched closer on Kenth's RBI single in the sixth for a 5-4 deficit. WU later pulled ahead 6-5 on Conner Wardlaw's RBI double in the seventh.
When play resumed Sunday afternoon, Eureka tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth on Ary's two-out RBI single. The Gorloks responded by plating the winning run when the Red Devils misplayed Matt Staker's infield single, allowing Ben Swords to score from second for a 7-6 advantage. Eureka went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
Up Next
Eureka will travel to Madison, Wis. on Wednesday for a 4:30 p.m. non-conference doubleheader against Edgewood.
