Red Devils Whip MacMurray in SLIAC Sweep
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Eureka College sophomore shortstop Kerrigan Dura (Edwards, Ill./Brimfield H.S.) had three hits in game one and four different players had multi-RBI games in the nightcap, pushing the Red Devils to a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of MacMurray, Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville, Ill. EC won the opener 12-1 and followed with a 10-1 win in game two.
The Red Devils scored three runs in the top of the first inning of game one and never looked back. Junior pitcher Kali George (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) recorded the only hit of the inning, as the visitors took advantage of three walks and an MC error to build the early lead.
In the third inning, Krysten Wallace (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.), Dura and Bridget Bankes (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) hit RBI singles to stretch the lead to 7-0. A five-run sixth inning, highlighted by a bases-loaded double from freshman Erin Smith (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap H.S.), put the contest further out of reach.
Dura had three of EC's nine hits and scored three times. George added two hits and won her eighth game of the season in the circle, striking out two over 5.0 scoreless innings.
Another big first inning propelled the Red Devils in game two. The Red Devils scored four times without recording a hit, coaxing four bases-loaded walks to claim a 4-0 advantage.
Eureka didn't score a run on a hit until Kylie Whightsil (Spring Valley, Ill./Hall H.S.) singled home Smith for a 7-1 lead in the fourth. Two innings later, Bankes scored two with a triple to push EC to a 10-1 advantage. In all, MacMurray issued 15 free passes in the nightcap.
Bankes had two hits in the game-two win. Bankes, George, Wallace and Whightsil each drove in two. Smith earned the win, yielding one earned run over 6.0 innings.
Eureka's doubleheader scheduled for Thursday at Harris-Stowe in St. Louis has been canceled. The Red Devils are scheduled to return to action Saturday in Eureka against Fontbonne in a 1 p.m. twin bill.