Rose-Hulman Edges Red Devils Late, Denies Split

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Eureka softball team fell just short of securing a split at Rose-Hulman on Monday evening.

Trailing 6-4 in the top of the seventh, the Red Devils tallied three runs to take a one-run lead into the bottom. Eureka needed three outs to come away with the win, but the Fightin' Engineers led off with a single, and then Phoebe Worstell delivered a walk-off, two-run home run to seize the win and the sweep.

The maroon and gold turned the final inning into a dramatic one when Ashley Voyles (Blue Ridge, Ill./ Farmer City) crushed a two-run home run with one out to tie the game. The Red Devils then proceeded to load the bases and score the go-ahead run when Mady Bultemeier (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) was hit by a pitch.

The home team recovered, though, ending the inning with a pair of strikeouts and stranding three Eureka runners.

The walk-off shot was Rose-Hulman's second dinger of the day. The Fightin' Engineers started Game 2 with a two-run homer by Nicole Lang in the first inning.

Two innings later, the Red Devils struck back with three runs on four hits. Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) drove in Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Westville/Lincoln) – who led off with a single and stole second and third – to make it a one-run game.

Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) then singled, and two batters later, Kaylee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln) produced a two-run double to give the Red Devils a 3-2 edge.

Rose-Hulman responded with four runs in the bottom half, however, making it 6-3.

Eureka scored an unearned run in the sixth inning before the eventful turns of the seventh.

The Red Devils had nine hits in Game 2. Wessel and Hohlbauch both went 2-for-4 with a double, and Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County) had two hits as well.

Game 1: Rose-Hulman 13, Eureka 2 (5 inn.)

Rose-Hulman racked up 10 runs in the first inning, and added two more in the third.

Carmen Howard (Warrensburg, Ill./Warrensburg-Latham) scored the Red Devils' first run in the second inning and Bryant scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.

Douglas went 2-for-3 to lead EC at the plate. Voyles, Howard, Hohlbauch and Angie Valenzuela (Turlock, Calif./Turlock) each had a hit as well.

Up Next

Eureka (1-10) will host Knox (2-10) in the team's first home doubleheader of the year at Sweitzer Field on Wednesday at 2 p.m.