Eureka Sweep Knox, Extends Win Streak to Five
GALESBURG, Ill. – The Eureka softball bested Knox twice on Friday, earning its second sweep of the week and fifth straight victory.
The Red Devils took the first game 7-3, then used a six-run seventh inning rally to secure a 9-5 win in Game 2.
The pair of wins clinched the Red Devils' first five-game winning streak since they started the 2020 season 5-0 two years ago.
Game 1: Eureka 7, Knox 3
Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) put the Red Devils on the board with the first home run of her career, a two-run blast in the second inning that gave the visitors an early edge.
Two innings later, the Prairie Fire got one back with a single, a fielder's choice and an RBI double.
The Red Devils came back strong with a five-run fifth inning that included four hits and four walks. Mackenzie Daniels (Monticello, Ill./Monticello), Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) and Wessel all walked in a run, while Bri Tanksley (Spring Bay, Ill./Metamora) drove in two.
Knox scored two runs off three hits in the sixth, but that was all.
Senior pitcher Sidney Wightman (Waterloo, Ill./Gibault Catholic) scored her third win of the season, holding the Prairie Fire to three runs on 10 hits and zero walks. She only needed one strikeout to get it done.
At the plate, Eureka scattered eight hits, with Daniels going 2-for-3 with a double. In addition to Wessel's bomb, Raelyn Payne (Lexington, Ill./Lexington), Kate LeMasters (Metamora, Ill./Metamora), Douglas, Tanksley and Wightman all contributed a hit.
For the fifth time this season, the Red Devils didn't commit a single error in the field.
Game 2: Eureka 9, Knox 5
The second game of the day had a more dramatic flair to it.
After giving up two runs in the bottom of the fifth and coming up empty in the sixth, the Red Devils entered the top of the seventh trailing 5-3.
The maroon and gold proceeded to tally six runs on five hits and two Knox errors.
Payne and LeMasters set the table with singles, then Daniels reached on an error to load the bases. A fielder's choice on the next at-bat momentarily stopped the Red Devils from scoring, but Douglas followed it with an RBI single to make it a one-run game.
Tanksley then put the ball in play and reached on an error that allowed two runs to score and EC to take the lead.
Christine Mepham (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) singled to keep it going before Tressa Grisham (Morton, Ill./East Peoria) stepped up to the plate and whacked a two-run double to give the Red Devils a 9-5 lead.
In the bottom half, Knox started off with a single, but then hit into a Eureka double play. The Prairie fire got another chance when a Eureka error followed. However, Wightman got a groundout to end the inning and the game.
The Red Devils tallied 15 hits in the game. Payne led the way, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Grisham went 2-for-3 with the team's other double, and Daniels, Wessel and Mepham each had multi-hit games, as well.
Mepham started in the circle and conceded just two earned runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. Wightman only allowed one run, one hit and one walk in two innings.
Up Next
Eureka (6-9, 2-0 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will continue SLIAC play on Sunday with a 12 p.m. doubleheader at Blackburn (3-7, 0-2 SLIAC).