For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

March 3, 2008

Red Devils begin season by winning opener

CONWAY, Ark. -- The Red Devils softball team came within two outs of an opening day sweep of Hendrix College , but settled for a split Sunday, taking game one 5-3 and losing game two 6-5.

In the season opener, Eureka (1-1) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, plating a pair of unearned runs in the first inning.  Emily Forbes (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) scored from first on a throwing error off a sacrifice bunt by Brandi Payne (Eureka, Ill./HS).  Payne scored later on a fly ball off the bat of Cathy Kalnicky (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield).

The Red Devils took a 3-0 lead in the third, but Hendrix (1-1) rallied back to tie the game after four. The game remained deadlocked until the sixth when EC launched a clutch two-out rally.  The key hit came off the bat of Nicole Ropp (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest), who delivered a pinch hit single to center, bringing in Natalie Lardi (S. Wilmington, Ill./Gardner-S. Wilmington) and moving Molly Wolber (Rock Falls, Ill./HS) to third. Wolber would later race home on a passed ball.

Eureka starter Abby Segal (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) took over from there as she eased her way through the final three innings allowing just one Hendrix runner to reach scoring position.  Segal fanned five hitters and allowed three runs in the complete game victory.  Her teammates played errorless defense behind her, highlighted by Brittany Gardner's (Mooresville, Ind./HS) running catch to end the sixth inning with a double play.

In the nightcap, Hendrix came back from a 4-0 deficit to salvage a split. The first three Red Devils to bat in the second frame had hits, including Ropp, who blasted an RBI triple deep to right field to make the score 2-0.  She later scored on a passed ball.

Eureka's first two hitters reached in the third inning, and Payne padded the EC advantage to 4-0 by sending Forbes home with a single to center. Hendrix trimmed the margin to one after the fourth stanza, and the count stayed at 4-3 going into the seventh.

Eureka went up 5-3 after two hits and an RBI grounder by Nicole Pitts (Pekin, Ill./HS). Hendrix quickly tied the with three of the first four hitters in the bottom of the inning hitting doubles.  Kelsey Brandt (Morton, Ill./HS), who started the game, returned in relief and almost got out of the jam, but Ellen Burr slipped a single through the right side for the game-winning RBI with two outs.  Eureka left just one runner on base in the game, while Hendrix stranded 10.

The Red Devils have a doubleheader scheduled at the University of the Ozarks on Monday, March 3 at
2:00 pm.

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For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bsullivan@eureka.edu