Top-seeded Webster Edges Eureka in 5-2 SLIAC Tournament Opener

O'FALLON, Mo. – The Eureka baseball team held its own against top-seeded Webster in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday.

The Red Devils only trailed the Gorloks by two runs in the fifth inning, but the regular-season conference champs tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to secure a 5-2 victory at CarShield Field.

In what will likely be the last start of his collegiate career, pitcher Gregory Cluskey (East Peoria, Ill./Metamora) went the distance against a team that is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Perfect Game Division III and No. 4 in the nation by D3baseball.com.

The senior held the highly-touted Gorloks to just three earned runs on six hits in eight innings on the mound. The seasoned right-hander retired the side in the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth inning and finished the game with four strikeouts and just one walk.

At the plate, the Red Devils managed to manufacture two runs on seven hits and a pair of Webster errors, finishing with one more hit than the Gorloks.

Both Eureka runs came in a fifth inning that began with freshman Austin Davis (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) reaching on an error and advancing to second on a wild pitch.

After freshman Alex Barney (Sheldon, Ill./Milford) singled to center to put runners on the corners, an RBI groundout to third by junior Jimmy Peterson (Bloomington, Ill./Homeschooled) plated the first run. The second came on an RBI single to right field by freshman Dylan Hill (Steeleville, Ill./Steeleville) in the next at-bat.

Another Webster error and an intentional walk loaded the bases before Webster made a pitching change. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, Joey Marko stepped in for Andrew Padilla and quickly got the out to end the threat.

Eureka got a runner on in the sixth and two on in the eighth and ninth, but the team couldn't scratch any more runs across.

The Gorloks scored their first run in the second inning after Cluskey gave up a leadoff single, hit a batter and conceded a run on an RBI groundout. They took a 3-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the third, then added two more off a single and a pair of doubles in the seventh.

Barney went 2-for-4 and scored a run for the Red Devils. Senior Kyle Christman (Peru, Ill./La Salle-Peru), Hill and fellow freshman Braden Cross (Clinton, Ill./Clinton), Karter Hostetler (Morton, Ill./Morton) and Colton Reed (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) each had a hit. Cross doubled to lead off the second inning and Christman had a stolen base in the fifth.

On Friday at 10 a.m., Eureka will face the loser of Thursday's other Pod 1 first-round matchup between Greenville and Westminster.