Eureka Makes History With 25-7 Win Over Iowa Wesleyan

EUREKA — For the second day in a row, Iowa Wesleyan ran out of pitching – and the Eureka baseball team took full advantage of it.

With the wind blowing out at Henry Sand Field, the Red Devils belted three home runs – including two grand slams – en route to a 25-7 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rout over the Tigers Monday afternoon.

After a 24-5 slugfest on Sunday, Monday's game gave the Red Devils 49 runs in the series. That's the most runs Eureka has scored in a three-game SLIAC series since joining the conference in 2007.

Eureka is now 6-9 on the season and 2-4 in conference play, while Iowa Wesleyan fell to 4-13-1 and 2-5.

Drew Thole's (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) second-inning grand slam to right-center field gave the Red Devils their first lead of the game – a 6-4 advantage.

The Tigers got a run back in the third to make it a one-run game for a little while, but EC scored five runs on two hits, five walks and a hit batsman in the fifth to build a comfortable lead.

EC's Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville) crushed a solo shot in the fifth, and then the Red Devils tallied 13 runs in a messy sixth frame that included a grand slam by Sean Green (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) that Green knew was gone the second it left the bat.

Green, a senior, finished the ­­­­­­game with five RBIs, three runs scored and a walk and wore two beanballs.

Thoele and Carter each had three-hit days for the Red Devils. The former went 3-for-4 with a team-high six RBIs, two doubles and a walk to go with the four-bagger. The latter went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a double and a walk, in addition to the dinger.

Noah Harlan (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) and Dean Moir (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) had two hits apiece for EC, which notched 16 hits on the day. Ten players in maroon in gold had at least one base knock.

The Tigers tallied seven runs on eight hits at the plate. Most of their troubles, however, came on the mound. Starting pitcher Cullen Papenhagen and a depleted Tigers' bullpen handed EC 12 walks and hit six batsmen.

Brock Pettit (Ashland, Ill./A-C Central) collected his first win of the season for EC. The freshman struck out eight and only walked one in five innings pitched.

After that, Kyle Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./Morton) came on in relief and turned in two innings of hitless ball, striking out three of the eight batters he faced and only walking one.

Eureka will next host Lincoln Christian in non-conference play 3 p.m. Thursday at Henry Sand Field.