Red Devils’ Reign Ends Wednesday at Webster, 4-0

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Having held the crown as defending St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champions for the last 730 days, Eureka's reign finally came to an end Wednesday in a 4-0 quarterfinal loss at Webster in St. Louis, Mo.

Raelyn Payne (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) and Kennedy Savage (Bloomington, Ill./Normal) logged hits for the seventh-seeded visitors. Torre Koontz (Lakewood, Ill./Shelbyville/John Wood) yielded only one earned run in the circle over 5.0 innings in her final collegiate start.

Eureka had its chances early, but stranded a pair of runners in each of the first two innings as the game stayed scoreless. The second-seeded Gorloks broke the scoreless tie in the home half of the third inning when Abby Burroughs drove home a run with a single up the middle.

The WU lead remained 1-0 until the Gorloks scratched three more runs across in the fourth inning. An EC error on a sacrifice attempt, an RBI groundout and another run-scoring hit from Burroughs proved to be the damage in the frame. All three runs were unearned.

Payne ripped a one-out double in the fifth, but the Red Devils ultimately couldn't cash in. Webster starter Reese Waggoner retired eight Red Devils in a row to close the game after Payne's fifth-inning double.