Eureka Nearly Holds on in SLIAC Tourney, Falls to Spalding, 4-1
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Eureka baseball team flirted with program history on Tuesday, but it didn't quite come together.
The sixth-seeded Red Devils dropped a 4-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament contest against third-seeded Spalding after taking a 1-0 lead over the Golden Eagles in the sixth inning and being tied at 1-1 in the eighth.
If the maroon and gold could have held on, it would have been the team's first-ever SLIAC Tournament win.
Instead, it ended up being the end of the road for a team that accomplished a great deal this spring.
The 2022 Red Devils recorded 16 wins for only the fourth time in the program's modern era and the second time under fifth-year head coach Jerry Rashid. They recorded the team's best start in the program's modern era, winning seven of the team's first 11 games, and finished in the top six in the conference for the first time since 2010.
Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) did all he could to put the Red Devils in a chance to keep it going.
Eureka's No. 1 pitcher threw 105 pitches over 6 2/3 innings and limited Spalding to one unearned run on just three hits and five walks. He struck out two batters, stranded six Spalding players and didn't see a run cross the plate until a passed ball in the seventh inning.
The Red Devils scored their lone run on a wild pitch in the sixth. Caleb Wilson (Houma, La./Covington Christian) led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) and moved to third on groundout by Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk) before giving Eureka a 1-0 lead on a pitch that got away from Spalding's Aaron Blake.
The following inning, the visitors threatened with a single and stolen base by Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled/Monmouth), but the Red Devils went down with two strikeouts and a groundout.
In the bottom half, Spalding's Marcus Collins scored on a passed ball. Garard walked the next batter, prompting his exit from the game. Senior Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington) took over and got a strikeout to get out of the inning, keeping it tied at 1-1.
In the eighth, Wilson came close to scoring and regaining the lead for the Red Devils. He singled with one out, then raced all the way to third on an errant pickoff attempt.
With Davis at the plate, Eureka tried to go for a suicide squeeze, but it went awry, with the ball popping up and the pitcher making a diving catch. By the time the play was made, Wilson was already near home plate, making it easy for Blake to double him off at third.
The missed opportunity came back to haunt the Red Devils in the bottom half when Hunter Strong launched a two-run homer to take a 3-1 lead. The Golden Eagles notched a fourth and final run on a balk.
Down to the last three outs, Cox started the ninth with a double to left, but the inning ended with two strikeouts and a fly-out.
Spalding held Eureka to just one unearned run on five hits, three walks and an error.
Cox went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, but he got out at the plate the first time and was left stranded at the end. Wilson, Peterson and David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) each contributed a single.
Spalding scored four runs on just five hits, six walks and zero Eureka errors.
Tuesday was the last collegiate game in maroon and gold for seven Eureka seniors: Diederich, Peterson, Lane Marlow (Camp Point, Ill./Camp Point Central), David Throw (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove), Charles Mangold (Eureka, Ill./Eureka), Dylan Briggs (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) and Joe Binder (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone). All of them played a role in a transformative season for Eureka baseball.