Red Devils Split with Carthage at Home
EUREKA – The Eureka baseball team picked up a home split against Carthage in non-conference play at Henry Sand Field on Sunday.
The Red Devils came up with big hits late in a 10-4 win over the Firebirds in Game 1, then fell one run short in a 4-3 Game 2.
With the Game 1 win, the Red Devils recorded their 16th win of the year, tying the program's highest win total under head coach Jerry Rashid.
Game 1: Eureka 10, Carthage 4
Tied 2-2 heading into the fifth inning, the Red Devils gained the upper-hand with a four-run rally.
Then, after the Firebirds got two back in the top of the sixth, EC tacked on four more runs in the sixth and extended the lead to six runs.
Eureka senior pitcher Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington) came on the hill in the seventh and finished the game off, stranding two runners with a strikeout to end it.
Junior Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) came away with the win after allowing four runs on six hits and three walks and striking out five in six innings of work.
Carthage scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the first, and Eureka responded in the bottom half with a two-run homer to right field by Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk). The long ball was the junior's ninth of the season, tying him with Dylan Hill (Steeleville, Ill./Steeleville) for most on the team.
In the fifth, Karter Hostetler (Morton, Ill./Morton) broke the tie with an RBI up the middle. Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled/Monmouth) followed that with an RBI double, and after a pitching change, Hill singled up the middle and drove in two more.
Carthage's PJ Moser knocked a two-run single to center the following inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, with two runners on, Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) doubled to left field to drive in another run, and two batters later, Hostetler hammered a three-run blast to left field to make it 10-4.
Hostetler went 2-for-3 with the home run and four RBI, while Davis and Peterson both contributed a pair of hits and a double.
Game 2: Carthage 4, Eureka 3
The Red Devils scored the first runs of the game in the third inning, held a 2-1 lead going into the sixth and were tied at 3-3 heading into the eighth.
In the eighth, though, Carthage's Bryce Prybylinski delivered a solo home run that ended up deciding the game.
The Red Devils got a runner in the eighth and got a runner all the way to third in the ninth, but it didn't come together.
For the Eureka, the highlight of the game came early. In the third inning, senior and hometown product Charles Mangold III (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) led off by crushing the first home run of his career off the scoreboard in left field. He hit the ball so hard that it bounced off the scoreboard and back over the fence before trotting around the bases and celebrating with his teammates.
After that, Caleb Wilson (Houma, La./Covington Christian) doubled and Cox drove him home with a single to make it 2-0.
Carthage's Matt Felber gave the visitors their first lead of the day with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
In the bottom half, though, Eureka senior Lane Marlow (Camp Point, Ill./Camp Point Central/Roosevelt) knocked an RBI double down the left-field line to score David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria), who singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error.
That ended up being EC's last run of the game. The Red Devils fell short despite outhitting Carthage 9-4. Marlow and Wilson each contributed a pair of hits and a double.
Ryan Bredeson (Washington, Ill./Washington) took the loss despite only conceding three runs on six hits and three walks in six innings while striking out three. Trevor Wingard (Decatur, Ill./Meridian) allowed one run on one hit and three walks and fanned six batters in three innings.
Up Next
Eureka (16-18, 7-10 SLIAC) will open their last St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series of the year with a doubleheader at Webster (30-5, 15-2 SLIAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
