Red Devils Come Up Short in Series Finale at MUW

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Eureka baseball dropped the finale of its weekend series at MUW, falling 14-4 in eight innings Saturday.

Eureka struck first in the opening inning. Noah Company (Le Roy, Ill./Le Roy) led off with a single, and Dylan Smith (Farina, Ill./South Central) followed with another base hit to put runners on the corners. Grant Hackney (Morton, Ill./Morton) delivered an RBI single to give the Red Devils a 1-0 lead.

MUW answered in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game, then pulled away with three runs in the second and two more in the third to build a 6-1 advantage.

Eureka trimmed the deficit in the fourth. Camden Smith (Florence, Ala./Florence) and Nate Cooley (Chillicothe, Ill./Illinois Valley Central) opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Camden Smith later scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-2. The Owls responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead to 10-2.

After a scoreless fifth, MUW added two runs in the sixth to push its lead to 12-2.

Eureka extended the game in the seventh when Joshua Stanley (Huntsville, Texas/Huntsville) tripled and Joe Clark (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 12-3. The Red Devils added another run in the eighth on Dylan Smith's solo home run, his fifth of the season.

MUW answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the run-rule victory.

Dylan Smith finished 2 for 4 with a home run, while Hackney also went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Clark added a double, a walk, and an RBI.

Colin DeLaere (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) started on the mound for Eureka, allowing four runs on five hits in one inning of work.

UP NEXT

Eureka returns home next weekend to host Blackburn. The series opens with a doubleheader Friday at 12 p.m., followed by the finale Saturday at 1 p.m.