Eureka Sweeps Maranatha Baptist, 10-4, 12-3
EUREKA – The Eureka baseball team ended its 2024 regular-season home slate with a 10-4, 12-3 sweep over Maranatha Baptist in non-conference play at Henry Sand Field on Thursday.
Game 1: Eureka 10, Maranatha Baptist 4
Eureka tallied 10 runs on 12 hits and stole eight bases en route to the first win of the day.
The highlight of the game was Sam Buduris (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community/McKendree) stealing two bases to reach the 30 on the season and leapfrog Sean Green in 2019 for the most stolen bases in a single season by any Red Devil in the program's modern era dating back to the 2000 season.
Buduris, the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's leading hitter and a three-time SLIAC Hitter of the Week, also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and an RBI.
Leadoff hitter Nickolas Cartmill (Burleson, Texas/Burleson/Bacone) went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, and No. 9 hitter Gabe Peters went 2-for-2 with an RBI single in the second inning.
Mike Dunne (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Lincoln Land) contributed a triple to put the Red Devils on the board in the first inning and he also had a sac fly RBI in the second.
Maranatha Baptist responded to EC's first two runs with a two-run homer in the second to make it 2-2.
In the third, David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) singled and drove in a run, Brandt King (Rockford, Ill./Stillman Valley/Ripon) scored on a wild pitch and Cartmill had a sac fly RBI to score Hidden. That made it 8-2.
In the fifth, King stole second and scored on a pair of throwing errors to extend the lead to seven runs. The Sabercats got two back in the sixth, and then Buduris reached his milestone by stealing third and scoring the last run of the game on a muffed throw.
In his first start of his career on the mound, freshman Jordan Kerby (Bixby, Okla./Crowder/Bacone) recorded a complete-game win, allowing one earned run on eight hits and two walks in seven innings.
Another freshman, Joshua Frenden (New Port Richey, Fla./River Ridge/Philander Smith), recorded his second triple of the season.
Game 2: Eureka 12, Maranatha Baptist 3
The Red Devils took the win in three innings after Maranatha Baptist got off to a rough start in the bottom of the first inning.
Eureka tallied 11 runs on two hits, nine walks and four hit batsmen to take an eight-run after the Sabercats notched three runs on two hits in the top half.
With two on, Buduris drove in a run with an RBI groundout and Andrew Schulte (Summerfield, Ill./Lebanon/Southwestern Illinois) singled up the middle to make it 2-0. The rest of the runs that inning were the result of walks, hit batsmen and wild pitches.
The Red Devils' 12th and final run of the game came in the second inning when Edwin Hohulin (Minier, Ill./Olympia) scored on a wild pitch. Hohulin, a freshman, opened the inning with a leadoff single for his first career hit.
He was one of three EC players to post a hit in the game. Nick Rulevish (Addieville, Ill./Okawville) produced the remaining hit and stole four bases. Schulte and Hohulin each had a pair of stolen bases.
The Red Devils finished with 12 stolen bases in the game; Bryce Ruple (Decatur, Ill./Sangamon Valley), Christopher Wollum (Cary, N.C./Cary/Barton), Kelton O'Grady (Camp Verde, Ariz./Camp Verde) and Ethan Hedge (North Pekin, Ill./Pekin) each had one.
Starting shortstop Garrett Flaagan (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley/Williston State) entered the game as a pitcher in the first inning, pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings and recorded a pair of strikeouts to get the win. It was his first pitching appearance as a Red Devil.
Up Next
Eureka (18-16, 7-7 SLIAC) will jump back into SLIAC play on Saturday with a road doubleheader against league leader Spalding (24-10, 14-0 SLIAC) at 12 p.m.