SLIAC Weekly Release - March 8

This week in the SLIAC is a weekly review of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Read the recaps of the prior weeks results and highlights of upcoming events. You can also find the latest standings, statistics, schedules and awards.

HEADLINES

Feature Friday with Lexi Litwiller (March 3, 2017)
This week's Feature Friday is with Eureka College softball player Lexi Litwiller. Lexi talks about her team's run last season and what it is like to hit a home run plus much more.....MORE

Eureka's Smith Tosses Perfect Game In Collegiate Debut (March 6, 2017)
Eureka College freshman pitcher Erin Smith (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap H.S.) fired a perfect game in her collegiate debut, helping the Red Devils throttle Lehman (N.Y.) 13-0 in five innings, Sunday afternoon at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. EC's seventh-inning rally fell short earlier in the day in a 5-4 loss to Ursinus (Pa.).....MORE

Red Devils Plate Program Record 27 Runs (March 6, 2017)
The Eureka College baseball team erupted for 27 runs in Sunday's season opener, including a 16-run seventh inning, to defeat NCAA Division III independent Rust 27-1 in Holly Springs, Miss. The 27 runs scored and 26-run margin of victory were the largest on record in program history.....MORE

SLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The SLIAC Players of the Week are honored for their performances during the week. Click on the sport link below to see the full list of 2016-17 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Baseball l Softball l Men's Golf l Men's Tennis l Women's Tennis l Men's Track & Field l Women's Track & Field

FINAL SLIAC WINTER STANDINGS

AROUND THE SLIAC

	The Blackburn baseball team started their 2017 season in a way that they haven't done in over 20 years, winning the season opener. The Beavers defeated Carroll University 16-6 last Friday. Blackburn pounded out 12 hits in the game with A.J. Gill leading the way with three hits. Richard Cardenas went 2-for-3 with seven runs batted in as a total of eight Beavers recorded a hit in the game. Jonathan Stepp recorded the win for Blackburn, going five innings and allowing one run while striking out five.
	The Eureka women's basketball team had their historic season end on Friday night in a 97-58 loss to defending champion Thomas More. Eureka scored the first points of the game but were unable to keep the Thomas More offense at bay, netting the next nine points. Eureka was led by Ashley Harfts, who scored 13 points off the bench while Kerrigan Dura finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Eureka finishes the year 20-8 overall, setting program records for points scored, three-pointers, assists, and blocked shots this season.
	The Fontbonne baseball team found a thrilling way to pick up their first win of the season, defeating Millikin 13-12 in a come from behind victory last Friday. The Griffins fell behind 6-0 early and trailed 10-3 after just four innings. The Griffins got back in the game with three runs in the sixth and tied the game up with four more in the eight. They eventually won the game with two runs in the bottom of the 11th inning on a Ethan Borrowman single up the middle. Joey Clemente recorded the win for Fontbonne, working the final two innings and striking out four.
	The Greenville women's basketball team's season continues after a 70-55 win over Northwestern (Minn.) in the NCCAA North Central Regional Championship. Greenville's Taylor Paulin scored a career high 25 points, adding six rebounds, five assists, and four steals. The win was Greenville's 20th of the season, marking the sixth time in school history and the second straight season they have reached that mark. The Panthers will now head to the NCCAA National Tournament, which begins March 15.
	The Iowa Wesleyan men's basketball closed out their 2016-17 season with a 94-87 victory over Florida National University in consolation game of the USCAA Tournament. The Tigers were led by Steven Soukup, who scored 37 points, while Brock Butler added 24 points. Iowa Wesleyan finishes the year at 18-9 overall with Soukup earning USCAA First Team All-American honors. In addition Steven Soukup, Brock Butler, Michael Soukup, and Josh Brase were all named USCAA National All-Academic.
	The MacMurray baseball team is off to a quick start this spring, holding a 5-2 overall record. The Highlanders took two of three games against Maryville (Tenn.) before sweeping a three game series against Dominican. They had their five game winning streak stopped in their SLIAC opener against Principia, falling 6-5. The Highlanders will host Millikin this week before closing out the weekend at Carroll on Sunday.
	After a disappointing 17-11 loss to Harris-Stowe in their season opener the Panther baseball team bounced back with a 6-5 win over MacMurray in their conference opener. The Panthers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after five innings but had to hold on to a late rally by the Highlanders that saw them score three runs in the ninth and leave the tying run on base. Principia had three players tally two hits in the game: Ed Bargmann, Connor Coyne, and Will Adler. Sawyer Grow registered the win, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing just one run while striking out three.
	The Spalding softball team will open up their 2017 season this upcoming week when they head to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic. The Golden Eagles will play seven teams over the course of the week. Spalding finished last year with a 13-23 overall record and were picked sixth in the 2017 SLIAC Softball Preseason Poll.
	The Webster men's golf team got back into the swing of things opening up their spring with a 15th place finish at the Las Vegas Desert Classic. The Gorloks shot a two round score of 609, with the third round being canceled due to high winds. Jon Hughes led Webster with a 152, including a team low 72 round in the second round. He placed 62nd overall. Zac Ciesla and Pete Conowall both shot a 153 to finish tied for 64th in the field.
	Westminster saw their season come to a close in a 72-64 loss to Hanover in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. The Blue Jays were in the game the entire night until host Hanover pulled away late, hitting free-throws. Romo Tabb led Westminster with 23 points while Sean O'Brien finished with 14 points. Westminster finishes the season at 19-9 overall.

THIS WEEK'S SLIAC SCHEDULE
To see a complete schedule of this week's SLIAC action click HERE

KEEP UP WITH THE SLIAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to keep up with the SLIAC using various social media platforms. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE , Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE , or on Instagram (@SLIAC) Don't forget to share your game day photos from around the conference by using #SLIACtion on your tweets.

Be sure to check out the SLIAC Feature Friday interview series. Each Friday we will feature interviews with student-athletes, coaches, and administrators from around the SLIAC. You can also view our previous feature videos, where you can get to know our student-athletes outside of athletics and get an idea of what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete, as well as conference tournament highlight videos.