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For Immediate Release
Baseball -- April 13, 2011
Eureka Sweeps SLIAC Twinbill From MacMurray
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Eureka College sophomore pitcher John Berns (Herscher, Ill./Herscher H.S.) tossed a complete game to earn his first career victory and sophomore Blake McConkey (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley H.S.) collected a total of five hits to go along with a pitching victory in the nightcap, leading the Red Devils to a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of MacMurray, Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville, Ill. The Red Devils won game one, 8-1, before blanking the Highlanders 4-0 in the nightcap.
The Red Devils (7-18, 3-10 SLIAC) broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of game one when freshman designated hitter Jordan Hodel (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson H.S.) hit his first a career home run, a three-run shot to push the Red Devils in front, 3-0. Senior second baseman Aaron Tolson (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian H.S.) added a run-scoring groundout later in the inning for a 4-0 advantage.
Senior first baseman Tim Cashdollar (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.) led off the fifth inning with his fifth career home run for a 5-0 lead. Two batters later, Hodel smashed a double to score McConkey and the lead was 6-0. The Red Devils plated an unearned run in the sixth and Tolson later added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to extend the lead to 8-0.
Making his 22nd career pitching appearance and his 10th career start, Berns turned in the best performance of his career, allowing only two hits and striking out four over 7.0 innings for the complete game victory. He retired eight straight batters after a leadoff walk in the second inning. The Highlanders (3-17, 1-10 SLIAC) broke up his shutout bid with one out in the seventh inning.
McConkey led the Eureka offense with a 3-for-3 effort, while Cashdollar and Hodel each went 2-for-4 with a home run. Hodel finished the contest with a career-high four RBI.
In the nightcap, Eureka scored all of the game’s runs with two outs during a four-run third inning. After a MacMurray error and a pair of singles loaded the bases, McConkey ripped a three-run double to clear the bases for a 3-0 Eureka lead. Freshman outfielder Kyle Kiesewetter (Metamora, Ill./Metamora H.S.) singled to score McConkey later in the inning to complete the scoring.
The offense was more than enough for McConkey, who allowed only two hits en route to firing 5.0 scoreless innings before giving way to freshman Bryan Meyer (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap H.S.) in the sixth inning. Meyer faced the minimum in 2.0 innings of work, allowing a hit and striking out one.
McConkey and junior Mike Daxenbichler (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.) each hit safely twice. Eureka stranded 10 baserunners during the contest.
The Red Devils will remain on the road this weekend, visiting defending SLIAC champion Webster for a three-game series starting Saturday night at 7 p.m. at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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