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For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
April 18, 2009
Moore homers, continues strong Senior season in DH vs. Westminster
Eureka senior Keith Moore (Hamilton, Ill./HS) tallied three runs and belted his third home run of the season Saturday, but visiting Westminster College had a banner day offensively in sweeping a SLIAC doubleheader by scores of 11-3 and 26-7.
Eureka (6-16-1, 6-10 SLIAC) built a 3-0 lead through three innings of game one against Westminster (6-22, 4-12), which had not won a road game all season, but the Blue Jays countered with 11 unanswered runs to snap a six-game losing streak.
Mike Wagner (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) and Shawn Songer (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) reached base by way of a single and walk respectively, then both crossed the plate when Tim Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./HS) lined a base hit that was misplayed in the right field corner. Moore led off the third with an opposite field blast to right for the third run of the game, but EC would be held scoreless on two hits the rest of the way.
There have been games this season when three runs would have been enough for Eureka starter Blake McConkey (Fairview, Ill./Spoon river Valley) to pick up the win on the mound, and for the better part of the game, it looked like Saturday would be one of those days. McConkey limited Westminster to one run and six hits by stranding four Blue Jays on base through the first five frames. The Red Devils also turned two double plays.
The sixth inning was a much different story, with Westminster collecting six runs on five hits, which unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the twin bill. Back-to-back doubles began the rally and made the score 3-2, but Eureka nearly got out of the mess still holding the lead. Westminster had the bases loaded and two outs when a hit batter forced in the tying run. The next two hitters laced two-run singles to open up a 7-3 advantage. Westminster picked up an extra four tallies in the seventh.
Moore's homer tied him for the team lead with Nick Knoblauch (Metamora, Ill./HS) for the season. Songer reached base all three time up with two walks and a base hit. McConkey was charged with seven runs in six innings. It was the first time he had given up more than five runs in any of his nine appearances as a Red Devil.
The Westminster attack stayed hot in game two, pounding out 19 hits and taking advantage of 14 walks issued by Eureka pitching to break open a 7-5 game after three innings.
The Red Devils got on the board when Moore led off the first with a single and later scored on an RBI ground ball by Kyle Koerner (LeRoy, Ill./HS). However, Eureka trailed 7-1 entering the bottom of the third before whittling the deficit down to two with a four-run rally.
Nick Eeten (Eureka, Ill./HS) and Knoblauch delivered in the clutch with consecutive RBI hits with the bases loaded for the first two runs. Wagner sent a sacrifice fly to right, sending Koerner to the plate and Eeten to third. He was not there for long though, as a wild pitch allowed him to close Eurea within 7-5 going to the fourth.
The Blue Jays, who enjoyed a .609 batting average (14-for-23) with runners in scoring position in the game, put the game on ice with nine runs in the fourth. The 26 runs Westminster scored were just one off the combined sum the Red Devils had allowed in their last six conference games coming into the day.
Eureka's final two runs were scored by Eeten and Justin Fravell (East Peoria, Ill./HS). Again it was a wild pitch that allowed Eeten to cross the dish in the fifth - an inning that included a double by Andy Hudec (Streamwood, Ill./HS). Pierce Furrow (El Paso, Ill./El Paso-Gridley) knocked in Fravell in the sixth with an RBI grounder.
Moore, Fravell and Eeten each scored two runs for EC. Eeten was the lone Red Devi with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-2. He was also the most effective of Eureka's four pitchers, tossing three innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Mike Young and Mike Silver each had six hits on the day to led Westminster, which had 38 hits, including 30 singles, in the two games.
The third game of the series scheduled for Sunday at Eureka has been called off as well as Eureka's home doubleheader with Maryville University that was slated for Monday, April 20. It is the third time the Maryville games have been postponed. No make up date has been set as of yet for the Westminster game. Maryville will now plan on traveling to EC for a make-up doubleheader April 27.
The Red Devils are next scheduled to take on Greenville College on the road Wednesday, April 22 at 3:00 pm. Greenville swept EC in Eureka 5-4 and 10-0 on April 15. The Panthers have won seven games in a row, including five on the road, to revive their faint playoff hopes after an 0-9 start to SLIAC play.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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