Red Devils Open SLIAC Play with Blackburn Split
EUREKA – The Eureka baseball team earned a split with Blackburn to open St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on a beautiful Sunday at Henry Sand Field.
After falling short in a 9-6 opening game, the Red Devils mashed 20 hits, came from behind and won Game 2, 15-9. It was the first day of spring and the Red Devils' first home doubleheader of the 2022 season.
Eureka is now 8-7 on the season and 1-1 in SLIAC play, with the rubber game between the two teams coming Monday at 3 p.m.
Game 1: Blackburn 9, Eureka 6
In Game 1, the Red Devils fell into an 8-1 hole in the first three innings. They outscored Blackburn 5-1 the rest of the way, but couldn't make up the difference.
Karter Hostetler (Morton, Ill./Morton) put the home team on the board with a sac fly RBI in the first inning, and Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville) drove in EC's second run of the day with an RBI single up in the middle in the fourth.
A third run came in the seventh inning on a solo home run by Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk) – his third dinger of the season.
Finally, in the eighth, Eureka tallied three runs on four hits and a wild pitch. Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled/Monmouth) doubled with one out, and Cox brought him home with a single to center. Hostetler singled to put two on. Two batters later, Lane Marlow (Camp Point, Ill./Camp Point Central/Roosevelt) doubled to score Cox. After that, Hostetler scored on a wild pitch.
The Red Devils finished with 11 hits to Blackburn's 10, but they gave up too many runs early and left 15 men on base.
After a rough couple of innings for starting pitcher Ryan Bredeson (Washington, Ill./Washington), Trevor Wingard (Decatur, Ill./Meridian) came on and threw seven strong innings. The sophomore struck out a career-high 10 batters and only conceded two runs on three hits and two walks.
Cox, Hostetler, Marlow and Rulevish each contributed a pair of hits. Malow's were both doubles.
Game 2: Eureka 15, Blackburn 9
The Red Devils tallied a season-high 20 hits in Game 2 and ultimately won by six runs, but Eureka went into the bottom of the seventh tied at 9-9.
With one out and the bases loaded, Peterson changed that with a grand slam over the center field fence. It was his second jack of the season, and it came at a critical juncture in the game.
After a single by Cox, a walk by Hostetler and a pitching change for the Beavers, Marlow singled up the middle to give the Red Devils a five-run edge.
An inning later, an RBI single by Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) up the middle extended the lead to six.
Senior closer Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington) took the mound in the ninth and the retired the side to seal the victory for the Red Devils.
Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) recorded the win on the hill after coming on with two outs in the fourth inning and throwing 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk and striking out three batters along the way.
Peterson had a standout Game 2, going 4-for-4, delivering the go-ahead granny, driving in five runs, scoring four times and drawing a walk.
He was one of six Red Devils to record at least two hits.
Leadoff hitter Caleb Wilson (Houma, La./Covington Christian) went 3-for-5 and scored three times. Davis went 3-for-5, scored three times and drove in a run. Cox went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and a walk.
Marlow went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while Dylan Hill (Steeleville, Ill./Steeleville) added two hits, including a double.
The early innings were back-and-forth.
Blackburn scored two in top of the first, and Eureka responded with a two-run single by Cox in the bottom half.
The Red Devils picked up an unearned run in the second to take the lead. Blackburn came back with two more to make it 4-3 in the top of the third, and Eureka scored two more in the bottom when Marlow and Hill came up with back-to-back RBI doubles.
Blackburn took control once again in the fourth inning, notching five runs on five hits and an error. Eureka got three back to make it 9-6. Wilson and Davis set the table with a bunt single and a walk. Then, Peterson singled to drive in one, Cox knocked a sac fly RBI to right and Hostetler singled through the left side.
An RBI single by Marlow in the sixth tied the game at 9-9, setting up Peterson's bomb in the explosive seventh frame.
