Eureka Splits Sunday at Spalding
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Morgan Osborn (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) hit a leadoff home run, Kerrigan Dura (Edwards, Ill./Brimfield H.S.) doubled twice with three RBI and Erin Smith (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap H.S.) won her league-best sixth game in the circle in the Eureka College softball team's 8-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Spalding, Sunday afternoon in Louisville, Ky. The Golden Eagles scored three in the bottom of seventh in game two for a 4-3 win and a split in the twin bill.
The split brought Eureka's record to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the SLIAC.
Game 1: EC 8, Spalding 1
Dura had three hits while Osborn and Gabby Wood (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.) added two hits each to drive a Eureka lineup that scored eight runs on eight hits. Smith allowed nine hits – all singles – and walked only one to improve her 2018 record to 6-0.
Osborn set the tone for the visitors on the very first at-bat of the afternoon, crushing a solo home run over the left-center field fence for a 1-0 lead. The Red Devils went on to score five times in the inning, receiving an RBI double from Wood, a sacrifice fly from Courtney Kurtz (Minooka, Ill./Minooka H.S.) and taking advantage of two SU errors.
The score remained 5-0 until Dura emptied the bases with a two-out, three-run double to center field for an 8-0 lead. The RBI increased her career total to 107, one shy of tying the all-time program record of 108.
Addison Morris broke up Smith's shutout bid with an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning.
Game 2: Spalding 4, EC 3
Wood hit safely twice for EC, including her first career home run in the fourth inning. Allison Cagley (Fairbury, Ill./Prairie Central) also had two hits.
Wood's home run, a one-out solo shot to left field, broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Eureka's advantage doubled to 2-0 in the sixth when Wood struck again, this time on a two-out double that scored Dura from first base.
SU's Abby Booker hit a run-scoring single with one out in the bottom of the sixth to get the Golden Eagles on the board. Eureka got the run back one inning later thanks to an RBI double from Adrianna Zeman (La Salle, Ill./La Salle-Peru H.S.) for a 3-1 lead.
Eureka carried the 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh before SU rallied. Morris started the threat with a leadoff walk and later scored for a 3-2 deficit on an error in the EC outfield. With two outs in the inning and the tying run at second, Olivia Carter hit a double into right-center field gap to force a 3-3 tie. Kaylin Rucker followed with a single to left field and Carter came around to score the winning run in walk-off fashion.
Up Next
Eureka will continue a stretch of 22 games in 22 days when the Red Devils visit preseason SLIAC favorite Greenville on Tuesday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.