EC Wraps Millsaps Invitational with 5-2 Win Over Edgewood

JACKSON, Miss. — The Eureka baseball team is coming home from Jackson, Mississippi, with a 2-1 record after concluding the Millsaps Invitational with a 5-2 win over Edgewood on Sunday.

It's the Red Devils' third straight 2-1 start to the season under coach Jerry Rashid.

Braxten Ary (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a run scored, while Kyle Christman (Peru, Ill./La Salle-Peru) and Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) both went 2-for-4. Christman drove in two runs, drew a walk and scored a run. Davis doubled and scored a run.

Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville) posted a double, Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley), Jelby Cheramie (Lockport, La./South Laforche) and Dylan Briggs (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) each contributed a hit as well.

Sophomore Brock Pettit (Ashland, Ill./A-C Central) picked up the win in his first start of the year after only allowing one run on four and zero walks and striking out six in six innings of work.

Garard, a freshman, recorded the save in his first appearance on the mound. He had two strikeouts and walked one in the ninth.

After getting shut out by Centenary on Saturday, Eureka put two runs on the board in the first inning.

Christman drove in the first run after Carter doubled with one out, and two batters later, Ary singled and made it 2-0.

Ary extended the lead to three in the fourth inning after singling, stealing second and third and scoring on an error.

The Eagles got one run back off two hits in the bottom half, and made it a one run game after taking advantage of an EC error in the seventh.

They threatened to take over in the eighth inning, putting two in scoring position, but Kyle Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./Morton) caught Jacob Popp looking to get out of the jam.

In the top of the ninth, EC gave the pitching staff a little breathing room with two more runs off three hits and a wild pitch.

That set the stage for Garard's first save. The Eagles got a runner on by way of an EC error, and with a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, advanced to third, but the freshman fanned Adam Cairo to end the game.

With the first road trip of the season and a pair of wins under their belt, the Red Devils (2-1) are set to open St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at Henry Sand Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.