Webster Downs Eureka in Opener, 7-1; Nightcap Halted by Darkness

EUREKA, Ill. -- Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville H.S.) slugged his first collegiate home run in the fourth inning of Saturday's St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division series opener against 25th-ranked Webster, but the Gorloks struck early to secure a 7-1 win league over the Eureka baseball team. Saturday's nightcap was suspended by darkness with the Gorloks in front 6-5 after seven innings and will be resumed at noon Sunday prior to the regularly scheduled 9-inning game.

Carter's solo home run -- his first in 151 career at-bats -- was Eureka's only extra-base hit of the opener against the nationally ranked Gorloks. Braxten Ary (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central H.S.) had two of the Red Devils' four hits on a pair of singles.

Kyle Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.) came on in relief in the sixth inning. He fired 1.2 scoreless innings and worked around two WU singles.

Webster's Joe Swanson got the visitors on the board with a sacrifice fly, part of a three-run second inning for the Gorloks. WU took advantage of an early error in the Eureka infield to plate a pair of unearned runs during the frame. The Gorloks doubled their advantage to 6-0 in the third thanks to a two-run double by Mike Wick and an RBI single by Mike Swords.

Eureka staved off the shutout when Carter drilled a two-out home run in the fourth. The Red Devils logged only one hit from that point forward and didn't advance a runner into scoring position.

In the nightcap, Eureka grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning and later built its lead to 5-3 after five innings. WU answered with one in the sixth and two in the seventh to claim a 6-5 advantage before the game was suspended due to darkness at Henry Sand Field. Sub-freezing temperatures and unfavorable conditions on the infield dirt forced Saturday's doubleheader to be delayed by nearly an hour.

Webster and Eureka will re-start game two of the three-game series in the top of the eighth inning Sunday at noon. The 9-inning game scheduled for Sunday will follow immediately after.