Red Devils Score Walk-Off Win Over Monmouth in Extras
EUREKA – At first, Eureka's Delaney Douglas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) regretted swinging at the pitch, but it didn't take long for her to change her mind.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Douglas sliced an inside pitch down the right-field line to drive in the game-winning run against Monmouth at Sweitzer Field on Tuesday. Bria Wessel (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) scored from second base to clinch the walk-off, 2-1 victory.
"It was crazy," Douglas said. "Initially, I regretted swinging at that pitch because I got jammed on my hands, but it was literally right down the line, on the money, one of a million, and I'm so glad we won because I was so hyped up."
Earlier, Wessel put the Red Devils on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth after the Fighting Scots plated the first run of the game in the top half. It was her sixth homer of the season and her fourth of the past week.
After that, though, neither team could scratch one across despite ample opportunities. The best one for the Red Devils occurred in the seventh inning when the maroon and gold loaded the bases for Wessel with one out.
Kloey Wheeler (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central) reached on a fielder's choice and Kacy Dunlap (Mount Sterling, Ill./Brown County/Lincoln) got forced out at home for the second out, and Wessel grounded out with the bases juiced after that.
"My heart was beating out of my chest every time there was a runner on third," Douglas said. "It was so close every single time."
Eureka ace Claire Wuethrich (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) was terrific in the circle. The freshman racked up a career-high 10 strikeouts while holding Monmouth to just one run on four hits and three walks in eight innings.
Monmouth pitcher Abby Leber was nearly equally strong –allowing just one run on six hits and one walk and striking out nine Red Devils along the way – but she didn't have the endurance that Wuethrich did. She exited after the sixth inning, just when EC's batters were starting to catch up to her.
Kayleigh Cobb took over in the seventh and managed to get the Fighting Scots out of a big jam before conceding Douglas' well-placed, walk-off single in the eighth.
Douglas also had a double in the sixth inning and finished 2-for-4.
Lexi Liptak (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) contributed a pair of base hits in the win, while Wheeler and Dunlap each added one to go with Wessel's bomb.
Game 2: Monmouth 7, Eureka 1
Eureka was even with Monmouth through four innings of Game 2 and only trailed by one after six, but the Fighting Scots put the game away with a five-run seventh inning
Eureka scored its lone run in the sixth inning on an RBI sac fly in foul territory by KayLee Hohlbauch (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln). Macey Whisker (Washington, Ill./Washington/Illinois Central College), who reached on a single and advanced to third on a single by Wheeler, tagged up and scored the run.
Monmouth's Elizabeth Durfee had Eureka's number in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings of work.
Eureka's Mady Bultemeier (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) threw four scoreless innings, then conceded a run in the fifth and sixth before getting in trouble, along with reliever Rachel Dawson (Stanford, Ill./Homeschooled), in the final inning.
Kylie Shaffer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Red Devils.
Up Next
Tuesday's doubleheader completed an eight-game homestand for Eureka. The Red Devils (8-20-1, 2-6 SLIAC) will next face Webster (11-14, 5-1) in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on the road on Sunday at 1 p.m.
