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For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
March 26, 2009
EC sweeps 1st ever road SLIAC DH, wins 2 of 3 over Blackburn
Game 1 Boxscore
Eureka College took two out of three games from SLIAC rival Blackburn College over the weekend to move over the .500 mark in league play. The visiting team won all three games in the series, with the Red Devils sweeping a doubleheader Saturday 6-4 and 7-3 and Blackburn coming back to outlast EC in 11 innings on Sunday by the count of 13-6.
The two wins on Saturday marked Eureka's first ever doubleheader sweep against a SLIAC opponent on the road in over two years as a member of the conference. Blackburn (2-7, 1-2 SLIAC) was a surprising victim of the sweep as the Beavers had been a perfect 5-0 against EC in SLIAC play.
Keith Moore (Hamilton, Ill./HS) was the catalyst for the Eureka (3-7-1, 3-2 SLIAC) attack on Saturday. The senior lead off man was retired just twice in nine plate appearances. In addition to his three hits, Moore got on base four other times without swinging the bat via three walks and a hit by pitch.
The Red Devils were incredibly efficient in the opening game Saturday, scoring six runs on just five base hits. They did so by leaving only one runner on base in the contest. Blackburn took a 1-0 lead in the second, but Eureka countered with a two-run rally in the third on three consecutive hits by Tyler Glaub (Metamora, Ill./HS), Tim Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./HS) and Moore.
The Red Devils could not enjoy the lead for long, however, as Josh Holman cranked a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the third to lift the Beavers to a 4-2 advantage.
Three-run blasts are great ,but they do not beat grand slams. The Red Devils got one of those courtesy of Moore in the fifth. A bout of wildness took over Blackburn starter Ben Eilerman in the frame as two walks and a hit batter filled the bases with just one away. Moore then slugged his second home run in four games, and first career grand slam, to put Eureka ahead 6-4.
Red Devils starting pitcher Clay McConkey (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley) made sure it would stay the way. He shut down Blackburn over the final three frames, allowing just two hits and fanning six of the last nine batters he faced. He struck out the side in the seventh as he went up against the top three hitters in the Blackburn order for a fourth time. McConkey finished with eight strikeouts in the game, and improved his season record to 2-0.
The Red Devils won the game despite not receiving a hit from batters 2-6 in their line up. Glaub and Cashdollar combined for four runs, reaching base in five out of six tries.
In game two on Saturday, Eureka recorded a hit in every inning, plating a run in five of the seven frames. Moore was on base all five times and No. 2 hitter, Benji Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./HS) went 2-for-2 with a walk and two sacrifice bunts. Cashdollar also was in charge on the mound. She struck out seven batters in the complete game victory, while allowing just three runs on five hits and three walks.
Eureka twice took a one run lead only to see the Beavers tie the game up. The Red Devils finally took the lead for keeps in the fourth as Glaub recorded a lead off single, stolen base and run scored for a 3-2 EC lead. Eureka continued the attack in the fifth when an error by the third baseman allowed Nick Knoblauch (Metamora, Ill./HS), who had already knocked in a run with an RBI single in the first, and Kyle Koerner (LeRoy, Ill./HS), who had just doubled, to score.
The Red Devils extended the lead to 7-2 in the sixth with the help of another error, then held on for a four-run victory. Benji Cashdollar, Glaub and Justin Fravell (East Peoria, Ill./HS) each had two hits in the nightcap. Glaub finished 3-for-5 on the day with a pair of walks and three runs scored.
The series finale in Eureka Sunday was an exciting back-and-forth thriller that featured three lead changes and four ties. Both clubs appeared to have the game in hand in the late innings.
Already on top 3-2, Eureka loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the eighth. Koerner led off with the third of his four hits on the day. Fravell followed with a sacrifice bunt, and was safe at first when the pitcher misplayed the ball. Shawn Songer (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) followed to a perfect bunt single down the third base line. Glaub knocked in a run with a fielder's choice to increase the margin to two before a wild pitch allowed Fravell to make it a 5-2 game. The Red Devils eventually drew two more walks, but stranded the bases loaded.
Blackburn wasted little time erasing Eureka's insurance tallies in the ninth as Mike Snidle followed a hit batter with a towering two-run homer to left to draw the Beavers to within 5-4. Representing the tying run, Matt Spala was also hit by a pitch, ending the day for Eureka starter Blake McConkey (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley). The final three batters put a damper on an otherwise outstanding pitching performance for McConkey, who allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in eight innings. He walked just one and struck out three.
The turning point of the game was also the scariest for Red Devil fans. Kyle Koerner was called on to pitch in relief, and the first batter he face, Jason Steckel, lifted a fly ball to left center. Left fielder Nick Eeten (Eureka, Ill./HS) raced after the ball as did center fielder Keith Moore. Moore appeared to get a glove on it, but then crashed into Eeten, dislodging the ball. By the time shortstop Mike Hubbard (Wataga, Ill./ROWVA) retrieved the ball in deep left center, Blackburn had tied the game at 5-5 and had the go ahead run on second base with no outs. Moore and Eeten were both shaken up on the play, with Moore having to be replaced.
Blackburn went on to take a 6-5 lead on what looked to be an infield single off the bat, but turned into a fielder's choice thanks to a diving play by Hubbard.
Just when it appeared the Red Devils were bruised and beaten, they sprung to life once again. With Eureka down to its final out and Koerner on first base, Songer delivered a clutch double down the left field line. The play was defended well by Blackburn though, as Koerner was held at third. That proved to be a wise move as a wild pitch allowed Koerner to score the tying run, and the game moved to extra innings tied at six.
After neither side could score in the tenth, Blackburn's Ryan Kittell lifted a three-run homer to center to break the tie in the 11th. The Red Devils could not recover this time as the Beavers tacked on four more tallies for a 13-6 triumph.
Koerner suffered the loss in relief, but had a brilliant day at the plate going 4-for-4 to tie his career-high in hits. He also recorded a walk and hit by pitch to reach base safely all six times at bat. Benji Cashdollar and Songer each went 2-for-5, while Glaub had two of the team's three runs batted in.
After a busy stretch of five games in three days, the Red Devils will have two days off before returning to Henry Sand Field for a league game versus MacMurray College Wednesday, March 25 at 2:00 pm. It will be the deciding match of the season series after the Highlanders split a doubleheader with EC in Jacksonville on March 17. Eureka one the first game 9-6, but MacMurray rallied back from an 8-2 deficit to sneak away with a 12-11 walk-off victory in the nightcap.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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