Eureka Opens Season with Doubleheader Loss to Lawrence

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka softball team opened its 2026 season on Sunday afternoon, falling in both games of a doubleheader to Lawrence. The Red Devils dropped game one 5-1 before the Vikings took game two 21-6 in six innings.

GAME 1: Eureka 1, Lawrence 5

In the opener, Lawrence struck first with a run in the top of the first, but Kaitlyn Robinson (Macomb, Ill./Macomb) limited the damage and settled into a rhythm in the circle. Robinson kept the Vikings scoreless in the second before Lawrence added a run in the third. She responded again with a scoreless fourth to keep Eureka within striking distance.

Eureka broke through offensively in the bottom of the fourth. Danika Apostolovich (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) started the inning with a leadoff walk and moved to second after Olivia Hurst (Ava, Ill./Freeburg Community) reached on an error. Apostolovich later tagged up on a fly ball to right field and capped a heads-up baserunning sequence by stealing home to get the Red Devils on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1.

Lawrence answered in the fifth with a pair of home runs that produced three runs and extended the lead to 5-1. Robinson kept the Vikings off the board the rest of the way, but Eureka was unable to rally offensively as Lawrence took the first game.

Robinson pitched a complete game, throwing 7.0 innings while allowing four earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. Hurst led the Red Devils at the plate, going 2-for-3, while Lexi Liptak (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) and Ashlyn Voyles (Farmer City, Ill./Blue Ridge) each added a hit.

GAME 2: Eureka 6, Lawrence 21 (6 Innings)

Lawrence again jumped ahead early in game two, scoring six runs in the top of the first inning before Eureka came to bat. The Red Devils responded in the bottom half as Liptak and Breannyn Dixon (Newark, Ill./Newark Community) opened the inning with singles. Hurst followed with a double to drive in a run, and Voyles later brought home another on an RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 6-2.

Mallory Kohnen (New Athens, Ill./New Athens) kept Lawrence scoreless in the second inning, but the Vikings erupted again in the third with six runs to extend their lead to 12-2.

Eureka answered again in the bottom half of the inning. Apostolovich sparked the rally with a leadoff triple before Dixon singled to bring her home. Hurst added another double and Voyles delivered the biggest swing of the day with a three-run home run, pulling Eureka within 12-6 after three innings.

Shaylun Christenberry (Brocton, Ill./Shiloh) kept Lawrence off the board in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Eureka was unable to close the gap. The Vikings broke the game open in the sixth with nine runs and held the Red Devils scoreless in the bottom half to secure the victory.

Kayleigh Zerrusen (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double in game two. Voyles went 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs, while Dixon and Hurst each finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Both of Hurst's hits were doubles.

UP NEXT

Eureka will be back in action Monday when the Red Devils host Grinnell for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.