Greenville Rallies to Sweep Eureka Friday

GREENVILLE, Ill. -- The Eureka College baseball team opened its 12th St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule Friday, dropping both games of a conference twin bill to reigning league tournament champion Greenville. The Panthers defeated EC in game one, 3-0, and later rallied for a 7-6 victory over the visitors in 10 innings in game two.

The defeats dropped the Red Devils to 3-5-1 overall and 0-2 in SLIAC play.

Game 1: Greenville 3, Eureka 0

Kody Silverthorn (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S./Parkland) delivered his most effective start in a Eureka uniform to date, yielding only two earned runs and striking out four in a 6.0-inning complete game. He allowed only five hits.

Sean Green (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S./Robert Morris-Peoria), Grant Mullin (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) and Thomas Harrison (Bushnell, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City H.S.) hit safely for the Red Devils.

Greenville (7-8, 2-0 SLIAC) produced the game's only offense with a three-run third inning. A walk and an infield single set the stage for a two-run single from Travis Ralls and a 2-0 advantage. The Panthers stretched the lead to 3-0 when Ralls stole third and scored on an EC throwing error.

Eureka brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth, but GU starter Adam Lamb induced a lineout to escape danger. Lamb ultimately secured his first victory of the season when he sat the Red Devils down in order in the top of the seventh inning.

Game 2: Greenville 7, Eureka 6 (10)

Eight different Red Devils recorded a hit in the nightcap, including doubles from Braxten Ary (Manito, Ill./Midwest Central H.S.), Mullin and Jake Carter (Carlinville, Ill./Carlinville H.S.). Carter drove in two runs.

Isaiah Taylor (Princeton, Ill./Princeton H.S./Illinois Valley) pitched into the seventh inning and Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) punched out three Panthers in 2.2 innings of action.

Klaiton Wolff and Sam Hodges gave Greenville a 2-0 lead with run-scoring hits in the bottom of the first inning, but Eureka answered in the top of the third by sending 11 batters to the plate to score six times. Carter's two-run double down the left-field line knotted the score at 2-2 and Ray Vogel (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.) pushed EC in front 3-2 one batter later with a single to score Carter. Evan Smith (Moline, Ill./Moline H.S./Sauk Valley), Mike Redmond (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) and Green also logged RBI singles during the rally. Eureka had five hits during the outburst and were aided by a FU fielding error early in the inning, as the Red Devils scored three times with two outs.

From that point forward, the hosts slowly chipped away at their deficit. Wolff's RBI single made it 6-3 in the bottom of the third. Austin Marsh singled and later scored on an EC fielding error in the sixth for a 6-4 deficit. GU finally pulled even in the seventh thanks to RBI hits by Ralls and Marsh.

Diederich stranded five Panthers over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to keep the score tied at 6-6. Ary started the ninth with a leadoff double and later moved to third on a wild pitch, but Wolff, who entered the game in relief to begin the inning, stranded the go-ahead run thanks to an infield popout.

Eureka went down in order in the 10th. Andrew Torbeck won it for Greenville in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff home run.

Up Next

Eureka is scheduled to visit NCAA Division I Bradley Saturday at 2 p.m. in Peoria, Ill. The Braves defeated EC last spring, 9-7.