Eureka Falls at Webster in SLIAC Tournament, 9-1

ST. LOUS, Mo. – The 2023 season came to an end for the Eureka softball team on Tuesday.

The sixth-seeded Red Devils fell 9-1 in six innings against Webster in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Eureka scored its lone run on an RBI double by Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central) that scored Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./ Bismark-Henning/Rossville-Alvin) in the top of the third inning.

That tied the game at one run apiece. It ended up being EC's last time crossing the plate.

Down 7-1 in the fifth, the Red Devils loaded the bases and threatened to make things interesting, but nothing came of it. That time, Webster pitcher Kaley Adzick caught EC's top hitter,, Kaylee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln), looking to end the inning.

An inning later, Adzick walked back-to-back batters, but she got a strikeout and a fly-out to leave two Red Devils stranded. Adzick allowed four hits and four walks in six innings while fanning six batters.

Hohlbauch recorded Eureka's first hit of the day with a single in the first inning. Bryant singled and Wheeler doubled to record the team's lone run in the third, and Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County/Lincoln) produced a pinch-hit single in the fifth.

In the circle, Eureka freshman Claire Wuethrich (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) conceded just two earned runs on five hits and a walk in three innings.

Tuesday was the final collegiate game for lone four-year senior Christine Mepham (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais). She leaves the maroon and gold after appearing in 101 games and filling a variety of roles for the Red Devils.

Eureka ends the 2023 campaign with a 10-29-1 record. With a youthful roster, second-year coach Juell Hodges and the Red Devils have plenty of developing talent returning for next season.