Eureka Edges Olivet After Falling Against Central
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka baseball team split a pair of games in Jacksonville on Sunday, picking up a 3-1 victory over Olivet after falling 10-4 against Central.
The pair of results moved the Red Devils to a 2-1 start to the 2023 season.
It's the team's fourth time winning two of its first three games in six seasons under head coach Jerry Rashid.
Game 1: Central 10, Eureka 4
Eureka held a 2-1 lead over Central through four innings, but the Dutch notched four runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh to take control.
Chase Ulrich (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Illinois Central College) went yard for the first time in his career as a Red Devil and Garrett Flaagan (Eagle, Ill./Eagle Valley/Williston State) scored an unearned run in the ninth, but that was all the response the maroon and gold could muster after falling behind.
Despite the loss, starting pitcher Mike Dunne (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Lincoln Land) posted a season-high 11 strikeouts in his first start and second appearance on the mound of the season. He allowed just one earned run on two hits and three walks in four innings.
Ty Kapp (Downs, Ill./Tri-Valley) made his first career pitching appearance in the eighth inning, retired three straight batters and fanned two.
The Red Devils scored their first run of the game in the first inning on an RBI single by Braden Cox (Washington, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Black Hawk) following a leadoff double by Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville). They made it 2-0 in the second with a double steal by Austin Davis from third and Demetrius Schupp (La Salle, Ill. / St. Bede Academy/Illinois Valley) from first.
Tate Stone (Washington, Ill./Washington) had a single in the fifth inning, but he was left stranded.
Game 2: Eureka 3, Olivet 1
The Red Devils got the edge in a pitchers' duel after Cox delivered his first home run of the season – a two-run blast in the sixth inning – and Cole Tanner (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Knox) drove in an insurance run with an RBI double in the ninth.
Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) earned his first win of the season. The senior ace allowed one run off two hits in the first inning, then was lights out for the next five innings. He tallied seven strikeouts and only allowed one run on four hits in six innings of work before handing it off to Parker Brodine (Brimfield, Ill./Elmwood-Brimfield) in the seventh.
Brodine proceeded to pitch three shut-out innings, conceding just one hit and striking out five to secure his first save of the season. Neither Garard nor Brodine walked a single batter.
Olivet's JB Stroh racked up 11 strikeouts in a losing effort for the Comets. Stroh and relievers Keegan Kuha and Josh Lucier combined for 16 strikeouts overall.
Dunne went 2-for-4 for the Red Devils, while Rulevish, David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) each contributed a hit, in addition to Cox and Tanner's.
For the second time in three games, Eureka didn't commit a single error in the field.
UP NEXT
Eureka (2-1) will next head to Memphis for a three-game series against Ohio Wesleyan (2-2) to start the team's spring break trip. The Red Devils will face the Bishops in a doubleheader on Saturday.