Eureka Eliminated in Opening Round of SLIAC Tournament

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Eureka baseball team saw its season come to a close Tuesday, with a 15-1 loss to Spalding in the opening round of the SLIAC Tournament.

The Red Devils opened the game with a walk by Conor Fitzpatrick (North Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and a single from Nickolas Cartmill (Fort Worth, Texas/Burleson), but were unable to capitalize on the early baserunners. Spalding answered in the bottom of the first with a three-run home run by Fisher to jump ahead 3-0.

The Golden Eagles added to their lead in the third inning, plating three more runs. Lopez knocked in two with a single, followed by a sacrifice fly from Callahan to make it 6-0.

Spalding plated another run in the fourth on a home run by McDowell, then added another in the fifth to push the lead to 8-0.

Eureka broke through in the sixth. Noah Company (Le Roy, Ill./Le Roy) reached on a single and advanced to third before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Mike Dunne (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone), cutting the deficit to 8-1.

Spalding closed out the scoring with three runs in the sixth, two in the seventh, and another two in the eighth to claim a 15-1 victory in the opening round of the SLIAC Tournament.

GAME NOTES

• Noah Company led the Red Devils offensively, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored.
• David Hidden (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) added a triple in his final collegiate game.
• Mike Dunne drove in Eureka's lone run and started on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings.
• Ethan McDonald (Mannford, Okla./Mannford) recorded a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings on the mound.
• The contest marked the final appearance for seven Red Devil seniors: David Hidden, Colton Yanish (LaSalle, Ill./LaSalle-Peru Township), Ethan Hedge (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community), Brandt King (Rockford, Ill./Stillman Valley), Sheldon Geuvens (Eureka, Ill./Eureka), Andrew Schulte (Summerfield, Ill./Lebanon), and Mike Dunne.