Eureka Falls Twice Against Fontbonne
EUREKA – The Eureka softball team dropped a pair of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference challenges at Sweitzer Field on Wednesday.
The Griffins eked out a 5-2 win after scoring three runs in the last three innings in Game 1, and came from behind to earn a 10-5 win in Game 2.
Game 1: Fontbonne 5, Eureka 2
Eureka and Fontbtonne were tied at 2-2 after three innings, but the Red Devils weren't able to capitalize at the plate after that.
The Red Devils left two runners on in the fourth and fifth innings, went down in order in the sixth and left a runner stranded in the seventh.
Kaylee Hohbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln) went 2-for-4 with a game-tying RBI single to right-center in the third inning that scored Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central/Heartland) after she led off with a walk and moved to second on a SAC bunt by Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland). Lexi Liptak (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) also had a pair of base hits for the Red Devils.
Eureka's first run came after Tressa Grisham (Morton, Ill./East Peoria) reached on an error that allowed Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Westville/Lincoln) to score. Bryant led off the inning with a single and stole second to put herself in scoring position.
Fontbonne put two unearned runs on the board in the first. After that, Eureka pitcher Claire Wuethrich (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) retired nine out of 10 batters in the middle innings.
In the fifth, though, Fontbonne's Grace Paez knocked an RBI single off Wuethrich's ankle in the circle to give the Griffins a one-run advantage. They would manufacture another in the sixth and pick up another unearned run in the seventh.
Wuethrich ended up taking the loss after conceding just two earned runs on eight hits and two walks in seven innings. She also had three strikeouts.
Game 2: Fontbonne 10, Eureka 5
The Red Devils got off to a strong start in Game 2. The home team plated four runs on two hits and two errors to take control early on.
Douglas plated the first run with an RBI fielder's choice. Hohlbauch singled to drive in a run and another scored on a subsequent error, and Liptak made it 4-0 with an RBI single up the middle that prompted a pitching change.
Two innings later, however, the Griffins came back with a five-run rally that included a three-run double by Allysa Ibarra and a two-run homer to center field by Ashley Carrow. Then, the visitors followed it with a four-run fourth and a one-run fifth to make it a six-run game.
Eureka's Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) deposited her third home run of the season over the center-field fence to make it 10-5. It ended up being the last run of the game.
Six Red Devils recorded a hit in the loss; Wheeler notched a double in the second inning to put two runners in scoring position, but nothing came to fruition.
Up Next
The Red Devils will turn around and host Cornell College in a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday at Sweitzer Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
