Fontbonne sweeps Eureka in conference softball action

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eureka College softball team dropped a pair of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests to co-leader Fontbonne University, Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo. The Red Devils dropped game one, 4-1, and later fell in the nightcap, 6-5.

The sweep at the hands of Fontbonne drops Eureka to 28-6 overall and 10-4 in the SLIAC.

Eureka got on the board in the first on an error by FBU's shortstop, scoring senior Savanna Tapper (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria).

The Griffins placed two runs across in the home half of the first and again in the second, enough runs for one of the SLIAC's top pitchers. Madi Leonard surrendered one Red Devil hit and struck out seven over seven frames.

In game two, the Red Devils pounced on Leonard early, scoring four runs over the first two innings of play to build a 4-0 advantage. Junior Lexi Litwiller (Eureka, Ill./Eureka [Lincoln Col.]) tallied a pair of run-scoring singles and freshman Kerrigan Dura (Brimfield, Ill./Brimfield) added a two-RBI double.

Fontbonne battled back to even the contests, scoring four runs in the home half of the fourth inning.

After a pair of scoreless innings, Eureka platted a run in the top of the seventh on a drop pop-up by FBU's shortstop.

Fontbonne, down to their final two outs after a line-out to lead off the bottom of the seventh, capitalized on a single, error, walk and single to drive in the game tying and winning runs.

The lady Red Devils will continue conference action on the road Monday with a doubleheader at Blackburn College. First pitch will take place at 12 p.m.