Red Devils Split Doubleheader at Dallas Christian
DALLAS, Texas – The Eureka baseball team split a doubleheader at Dallas Christian on Day 2 of its Texas spring break trip on Tuesday.
The Red Devils fell 8-3 in the early game and earned a 5-1 win in Game 2.
With three games remaining in its spring break trip, the team is 5-3 through eight games for the second time in the past three years.
Game 1: Dallas Christian 8, Eureka 3
In Game 1 of the day, the Red Devils tallied 10 hits, but were only able to convert it into three runs, leaving five on base.
Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk) did his part, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI doubles. He drove in the first run of the game in the first inning and the last run of the game in the seventh.
In the second inning, Caleb Wilson (Houma, La./Covington Christian) singled through the left side with two on to give the Red Devils a 2-0 advantage. However, the home team got one back in the bottom half, then took the lead with a three-run third.
Dallas Christian tacked on another run in the fourth and scored three more in the fifth.
In the Red Devils' last chance to rally, Wilson led off with a single and scored on Cox's second double three batters later. Cox was left stranded.
In his first start since racking up 14 strikeouts in a 7-1 win over Knox last week, Eureka pitcher Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) fanned six batters and only walked one while allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Freshman Sheldon Guevens (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief and notched a strikeout.
Wilson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled/Monmouth) added two base hits and scored a run. David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria), Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) and Dylan Hill (Steeleville, Ill./Steeleville) each had a hit as well.
Game 2: Eureka 5, Dallas Christian 1
Sophomore pitcher Trevor Wingard (Decatur, Ill./Meridian) recorded his first career win on the hill in Game 2 on Tuesday.
In seven innings of work, he allowed just four hits and two walks, and tallied five strikeouts. The only run he conceded was unearned.
At the plate, Eureka posted five runs on six hits, four walks and six Dallas Christian errors.
The Red Devils scored the first three hits of the game in the first inning by taking what the home team gave them.
Wilson led off by getting hit by a pitch, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. That set up Hidden for an RBI single to put the team on the board with an RBI single.
He then advanced to second on another throwing error, moved to third on an RBI groundout by Peterson before scoring on a passed ball.
After Cox singled and Lane Marlow (Camp Point, Ill./Camp Point Central/Roosevelt) was hit by a pitch to put two on, Hill singled to right field to make it 3-0.
It stayed that way until Dallas Christian scored an unearned run in the third inning to make it 3-1.
The Red Devils got at least one runner on in every inning, but they didn't score again until the top of the seventh inning. Eureka scored two off one hit and a pair of errors.
Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington) provided the hit to lead off the inning and eventually scored after a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded. After another fielding error loaded the bases, Hidden was hit by a pitch to bring in the final run.
In addition to Wilson, Hidden, Cox and Hill, Dylan Briggs (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) contributed a hit for the Red Devils in the win.
Up Next
Eureka (5-3) is set to take on Arlington Baptist in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday.