ELSAH, IL - The Principia Baseball team hosted Eureka College in a conference matchup this Friday and Saturday at Cheatham Stadium. The Red Devils came in with a winning record both in conference and overall, and swept all three games on the weekend.
Friday was a cold and windy evening that cooled the Panther bats. Eureka scored three in the first and added another run in each of the next three innings. Chris Strong and Alex Zozaya both singled in the third, but the Panthers were unable to push across a run. Tim Eissler singled in the fourth and Zozaya again in the sixth. The Panthers would fall in game one of the series, 12-0.
Saturday brought sunshine and warmer weather for a doubleheader. In the first game of the day, the Panthers put the bat on the ball, but the Eureka defense was flawless and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard early. Zozaya singled in the bottom of the third and Ryan D'Amico ripped a double in the bottom of the fifth. The Panthers recorded their first run in the sixth inning when Jack Adler hit his third home run of the season. Eureka would go on to win 14-1.
Game two was a different story, as Jack Adler took the mound for his second start of the season. Alder's mix kept the Red Devils hitters off balance as he surrendered only four hits and tallied an impressive 10 strikeouts – the most ina game for. the Panthers this season. The Principia bats came to life as they outhit the Red Devils in the final game of the series. Eureka struck first in the second inning after a one out walk and a double gave them a one run lead.
In the fourth, Tim Eissler led off with a double deep to the right center gap. After Casey Golbiw was hit by a pitch, and D'Amico moved up the runners with a groundout to second, Chris Strong hit a clutch, two out single to center to score Eissler. With Owen Murphy batting, Golbiw took advantage of a wild pitch that skipped away from the catcher to score the go ahead run. Murphy then came up clutch as well with a single to right field to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
Eureka would plate two to even things up in the fourth, taking advantage of a Panther error. Principia had a chance in the sixth thanks to a lead off double by Salvador Flores. With one out, a solid defensive play nabbed Flores in a bang-bang play at the plate to keep the Panther from regaining the lead. Eureka would take a 4-3 lead when a two out, bases loaded line drive squirted out of the glove of the Panther third basemen. In the seventh, after Chris Strong led off with a walk, Owen Murphy roped a double off the wall for his second big hit of the game. Unfortunately, Strong was gunned down at the plate on a well-executed relay from the outfield to give the Red Devils the win.
Up Next: The Panthers will host Webster University, one of the top teams in the conference, next Saturday, April 16. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00pm.
