Webster Tops Eureka, 8-1
EUREKA – Webster took the first game of a three-game St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series at Eureka on Friday, 8-1.
Webster pitcher Alek Elges limited Eureka to one run on four hits and one walk in nine innings, notching nine shutout innings.
All four of Eureka's hits on the day came at the top of the order. Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville), the leadoff man, went 2-for-3 with a walk, while Cole Tanner (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Knox), the No. 2 batter, went 2-for-4 with a double and the team's only run.
Eureka scored in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the Red Devils trailing 8-0, Cole Tanner (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Knox) came up to the plate with a runner on and doubled to left field. Rulevish, who led off with a single, attempted to race home from first, but he was thrown out at the plate. In the next at-bat, Tanner managed to steal third after a strikeout, and after a muffed throw at third, he made his home to put the Red Devils on the board.
EC pitcher Ryan Bredeson (Washington, Ill./Washington) had a quality start on the mound, pitching into the eighth inning while allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and one walk and striking out five.
The Gorloks took a 2-0 lead in the second inning off a two-run homer by Charlie Burton, then added a third run off a well-executed bunt down the third baseline by Matt Staker in the fourth. It stayed 3-0 until the eighth inning.
After getting a pick-off and a pair of strikeouts after a double and a single in the fifth, Bredeson retired the side in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the eighth, though, Webster strung together three straight hits, with a two-run to single bringing in two more runs and prompting a pitching change. The Gorloks went on to tack on two more in the eighth and one more in the ninth.
Webster finished with six extra-base hits and 14 hits overall.
Eureka (6-15, 4-6 SLIAC) will turn around and face Webster (12-10, 6-1 SLIAC) in a SLIAC doubleheader at Henry Sand Field on Saturday at 12 p.m.
