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Posted: May 01, 2022

Spalding Sweeps Eureka to Close Regular Season

Photo by Kayla Enochs.
Photo by Kayla Enochs.
Photos Video Box Score Box Score
Game 1

Pitching

Win: Erica McMann (11-6)
Loss: Sidney Wightman (9-15)
Batting
Spalding
2B: Grayce Marcum; Bella Velez 2; Allison Nell; Maranda Thomas
3B: none
HR: Allison Nell
Eureka
2B: Raelyn Payne; Bri Tanksley
3B: none
HR: none
Full stats

Pitching

Win: Bella Velez (3-5)
Loss: Christine Mepham (4-6)
Batting
Spalding
2B: Rylee Phillips; Grayce Marcum; Bella Velez; Allison Nell
3B: none
HR: Bella Velez; Madison Loechle
Eureka
2B: Christine Mepham
3B: none
HR: Elly Maier
Full stats

EUREKA – The Eureka softball team dropped its final St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Spalding on Sunday.

The Golden Eagles bested the Red Devils 15-4 and 13-2 in five innings in both contests.

Game 1: Spalding 15, Eureka 4

After a scoreless inning, the Golden Eagles jumped on the Red Devils with an 8-run second inning and a seven-run third.

Eureka got on the board with a pair of runs on RBI groundouts by Kate LeMasters (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) in the third third and scratched across two more in the fifth.

Raelyn Payne (Lexington, Ill./Lexington), who led off with a double, scored on a fielding error and Randilyn Light-Smith singled to drive in the team's last run.

Bri Tanksley (Spring Bay, Ill./Metamora) went 3-for-3 with a double. Payne claimed two stolen bases.

Game 2: Spalding 13, Eureka 2

Spalding got out to another strong start in Game 2, taking an 8-0 lead in the first two innings.

The Golden Eagles didn't cool down much from there. They notched at least one run in the last three innings of the game, scoring one in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth.

The Red Devils scored their runs on a second-inning, two-run dinger to center field by Elly Maier (Clinton, Ill./Clinton) – her first collegiate home run.

Spalding pitcher Bella Velez only gave up three hits in the game. Wessel and Christine Mepham (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had a single and double, respectively.

Payne walked three times and stole two bases, bringing her season total to 45 (most in program history) and her career total to 55 (second-most in program history).

Up Next

Eureka (14-23, 11-19 SLIAC) will have one day to prepare for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Red Devils, who finished third in the SLIAC East division, are set to open the tourney at Webster (19-14, 15-5.) The two teams split their regular season series, with Eureka taking Game 1, 5-3, and Webster coming back and getting Game 2, 18-5.