Red Devils Break New Ground in Sweep Over Greenville
GREENVILLE, Ill. – Eureka's Dylan Hill (Steeleville, Ill./Steeleville) became the first Red Devil to mash three home runs in a single game since 2010 on Saturday.
And that was just one of many highlights on a huge day for the Eureka baseball team at Greenville.
The Red Devils emphatically took down the Panthers, 12-1 and 10-3, on the road in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
It was the team's first SLIAC series win over Greenville in program history, and its first-ever SLIAC doubleheader sweep of the Panthers.
The pair of wins moved the team to 11-7 on the season and 4-1 in SLIAC play, marking EC's best SLIAC start through five games in program history. The team's four-game SLIAC win streak is its longest since April 2018.
The Red Devils outhit Greenville 22-8 on the day.
Game 1: Eureka 12, Greenville 1 (8 inn.)
While the Red Devils batters consistently racked up hits and runs, pitcher Trevor Wingard (Decatur, Ill./Meridian) was nearly unhittable on the mound.
The sophomore right-hander threw a two-hitter, only allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out eight batters in eight innings. He notched his second complete-game victory of the season.
At the plate, the Red Devils scored one run in every inning except for one.
They capitalized on an overthrow and scored an unearned run to get on the board in the first, and scored two more in the second. Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) drove in one and Caleb Wilson (Houma, La./Covington Christian) scored on a passed ball to make it 3-0.
Hill went yard for the first time with a two-run blast to right field in the top of the third. His second was a solo shot to right in the seventh, and his third and final dinger of the game – and fifth of the season – was a three-run bomb in the eighth.
It was the first time a Eureka player recorded three home runs in a single game since Alex Hess did it on March 30, 2010 in an 8-0 win over MacMurray. It was also the first three-homer game in the SLIAC since Westminster's Blake Strebler launched four against Spalding on April 14, 2018.
In the middle innings, Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled/Monmouth) delivered a two-run single in the fourth, and Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville) singled and drove in one in the fifth.
Hill finished 3-for-3 with 6 RBI, five runs scored and a walk. Peterson had a pair of hits and a pair of RBI, while Davis went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of walks.
Transfers Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk) and Lane Marlow (Camp Point, Ill./Central Camp Point/Roosevelt) each had a hit as well.
The Red Devils defense only committed one error in the win.
Game 2: Eureka 10, Greenville 3
After Wingard's dominant first game, junior pitcher Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) followed suit.
The junior recorded his third win of the season, limiting Greenville to two earned runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out five batters and had a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings.
Garard also helped his own cause at the plate, going 3-for-4, scoring three runs and drawing a walk.
Wilson went 3-for-5 with a double, a pair of RBI and two runs scored.
Cox recorded his fourth home run of the season with a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth. He finished 2-for-5 with three RBI.
Peterson went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Karter Hostetler (Morton, Ill./Morton) posted a double, and Rulevish added a single as well.
Wilson scored EC's first run on a fielder's choice by Cox in the first. The following inning, he drove in the team's second run with an RBI single to left with the bases loaded. Davis followed that with a sac fly RBI that made it 3-0.
After Cox's homer made it 4-0 in the sixth, Greenville scored an unearned run in the bottom half.
The Red Devils answered that with three runs on three hits and an error in the seventh. Garard scored on an error, Peterson produced a sac fly RBI and Cox drove in another run with a single to center.
Greenville got one back in the bottom of the seventh on a sac fly RBI, then saw Eureka score three more in top of the eighth. Wilson doubled down the right-field line to bring in the first, and later, Peterson singled with two runners in scoring position to bring in two more.
Freshman Sheldon Guevens (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) took over for Garard in the ninth and got three outs in four batters to end it.
UP NEXT
The Red Devils (11-7, 4-1 SLIAC) will complete the three-game series against the Panthers (8-10, 0-2 SLIAC) at Greenville on Monday at 5 p.m.