Blackburn Takes Two From Eureka, 3-2, 7-1

EUREKA – The Eureka softball team dropped a pair of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests against Blackburn on Wednesday.

The Beavers got the edge in a 3-2 Game 1 and then pulled away for a 7-1 win in Game 2.

Game 1: Blackburn 3, Eureka 2

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Red Devils tied things up with an RBI single by Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) with one out.

The Beavers retired the next batters to get out of the jam and leave two Red Devils stranded in scoring position.

The following inning, Blackburn put two on, then took the lead after a wild pitch-throwing error combination allowed the go-ahead run to score.

Eureka's attempt to respond in the bottom of the seventh never quite came together. The team got a runner on and she was caught off the bag at first base for the first out. A Bre Dixon (Newark, Ill./Newark) single put another, and she moved to second on a groundout by Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County/Lincoln), bringing leadoff hitter Alayla Thornton (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Trinity International) to the plate.

She proceeded to hit a hard liner to right field that was snagged by Blackburn right fielder Brianna Melchor to end the game.

Eureka's first run of the game came in the fourth inning on an RBI single to center field that scored Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Bismark-Henning/Rossville-Alvin/Lincoln). Douglas went 2-for-3 on the game and had both of the team's RBI.

Starting pitcher Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central/Heartland) pitched five solid innings, allowing just two earned runs on six hits and no walks. In the sixth, she handed it over to Claire Wuethrich (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian), who allowed one run on one hit and one walk.

Game 2:

Blackburn limited Eureka to one run on five hits.

It came in the third inning when the Red Devils were down by three and the Beavers were getting into pitching trouble.

Eureka loaded the bases with a walk by Bryant, a single by Wheeler and a walk by Douglas. The next two batters put the ball in play, but the Beavers got the lead runner out at home both times. On the third try, Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) drew a bases-loaded walk to put the team on the board. Then, after a pitching change, Blackburn got a strikeout to limit EC to just one run.

That ended up being EC's best opportunity to rally.

Kloey Norris (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central) conceded four runs on five hits and one walk in four innings of work in the circle, and two unearned runs scored against Wuethrich in three innings in which she allowed three hits and three walks and struck out four batters.

Up Next

On Saturday, Eureka (9-25, 1-11 SLIAC) will host the Mississippi University for Women (19-15, 5-7 SLIAC) at Sweitzer Field for a Senior Day doubleheader at 12 p.m.