Red Devils Rout Millsaps in Season Opener, 12-1
JACKSON, Miss. — The Eureka baseball team claimed its third season-opening win in the past four seasons on Friday evening, rolling to a 12-1 victory over Millsaps.
The game marked the first in a three-game weekend at the Millsaps Invitational in Jackson, Mississippi.
Sophomore southpaw J.D. Theile (Bloomington, Ill./Normal) pitched seven innings of shutout baseball for the Red Devils, limiting the home team to three hits while striking out seven and only walking two. IT was his third career shutout victory.
Eureka racked up 12 runs on 10 hits on the night and committed just two errors in the field.
Freshman Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) went 3-for-5 with an RBI in his collegiate debut.
Cleanup hitter Dean Moir (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) went for 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville) had two hits and a pair of RBIs in the No. 2 spot.
Freshman leadoff hitter Caleb Wilson (Covington, La./Covington Christian) and transfer No. 3 hitter Kyle Christman (Peru, Ill./La Salle-Peru) each recorded a hit in their collegiate debuts, and returning senior Braxten Ary (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) contributed one as well. Wilson drove in two, scored twice and drew two walks.
The Red Devils produced the bulk of their runs during an eighth-inning rally that resulted in seven runs off five hits.
After Moir was hit by a pitch, Ary and Garard both singled, setting up Jelby Cheramie (Lockport, La./South Laforche) for the base-loaded walk.
Two fielder's choices later, Wilson drew another base-loaded walk. Carter followed that with a two-run RBI single to right-center, Carter singled to drive in another run and Moir singled to tack on one more, giving the Red Devils a 12-0 advantage.
Eureka scored its first runs of the season in the first inning following RBI singles by Moir and Garard.
Then, in the fifth, EC took advantage of a pair of Millsaps errors, and with the help of an RBI single and two stolen bases by Wilson, extended the lead to five runs.
After the big rally, Kyle Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./Morton) pitched a scoreless frame and recorded a strikeout in the eighth inning and Aaron Schwab (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) allowed one run one on one hit and two walks in the ninth in his first collegiate appearance.
The Red Devils (1-0) take the field again on Saturday against Centenary (La.) at 3:30 p.m.