Red Devils Split Doubleheader Against Knox
GALESBURG, IL. – The Red Devils baseball team split a doubleheader at Knox on Wednesday. The Red Devils lost the first game 11-5 but responded in the second game with a resounding 13-3 victory.
GAME 1 | Eureka 5, Knox 11
Eureka started the evening with a seven-inning game against Knox, falling 11-5.
Colton Yanish (LaSalle-Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru Township) made his eighth start of the season for the Red Devils, allowing four earned runs on two hits over 4.1 innings of work, while picking up four strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eureka jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the top of the second. Brandt King (Rockford, Ill./Stillman Valley) singled to drive in two runs, giving the Red Devils the lead. Nickolas Cartmill (Burleson, Texas/Burleson/Bacone) then drove in two more on a two-out single, extending the lead to 4-0.
Knox responded in the third inning with a run of their own, narrowing the deficit to 4-1. The Prairie Fire continued chipping away in the fifth inning, scoring two more runs to make it a 4-3 game.
In the fifth inning, Knox claimed the lead for the first time with a grand slam, putting them ahead 7-4.
Eureka fought back in the sixth inning when Mike Dunne (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) was hit by a pitch, driving in a run to cut the deficit to two.
Knox pulled away with four more runs in the sixth inning, extending their lead to 11-5, which they maintained for the remainder of the contest.
GAME 2 | Eureka 13, Knox 3
The bats came alive for the Red Devils in the second game against Knox leading to a 13-3 victory.
Dominic Tenayuca (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Jacobs/Lincoln) got the start for the Red Devils and kept the Prairie Fire scoreless while picking up 3 strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eureka jumped out to an early lead in game two when Chase Ulrich (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/ICC) grounded out to bring in Nickolas Cartmill, giving the Red Devils a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
The game remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when the Red Devils' bats started to come to life. Cartmill started the scoring with an RBI single to extend the lead to two runs. Sam Buduris (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka/McKendree) then got his opportunity with the bases loaded and delivered his ninth home run of the season, extending the lead to 6-0. The Red Devils' big fifth inning would not stop there, with another run was added on a single by Garrett Flaagan (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley/Williston State) and three more runs as a result of a flurry of defensive errors by the Prairie Fire, extending the lead to 10-0.
Eureka's offensive effort continued into the sixth inning when they plated two runs on wild pitches and a third run on an error by Knox, bringing the score to 13-0.
Knox managed to end the Red Devils bid for a shutout in the sixth inning with a home run and plated two more runs in the seventh to cut into the lead. The Prairie Fire's late offense would not be enough, however, and the Red Devils would go on to close out the game with a final score of 13-3.
UP NEXT
The Red Devils will be back in action on Saturday as they close out their regular season against Webster in a doubleheader in St. Louis. The first game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., followed by the second game around 2:30 p.m. The Red Devils have the opportunity to secure a spot in the SLIAC tournament through various scenarios, depending on results from other conference games being played on the same day.