Baseball Short-Games Eureka Twice, Wins Series 2-1

The Westminster baseball team went 2-for-3 in the three-game conference series with Eureka College over the weekend. The Westminster Blue Jays fell in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, 4-3, but came back to win the second game in eight innings, 16-5. On Sunday, April 6, the Blue Jays short-gamed the Eureka Red Devils 15-2 in the seventh inning. The Blue Jays are now 5-4 in conference play and 11-6 on the season.

The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead over Eureka in the first inning of game one. Junior Cam Backes led-off the game with a single to right center and advanced to second with junior Tim Chambliss‘ sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Deion Hughes hit a RBI single to left center to score Backes. De. Hughes was moved to second with junior Tyler Branneky’s single and scored on senior Danton Hughes’ RBI double up the middle.

The second, third and fourth inning were scoreless, but the Blue Jays added another run in the top of the 5th. Senior Ben Schwarz singled up the middle and advanced to second on Backes’ at bat. Another error by Eureka allowed Schwarz to score, unearned.

The Blue Jays held the 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, but multiple errors caused the Blue Jays to allow 3 runs, losing the game 4-3.

Sophomore Collin Brinker (1-2) was credited with the loss. De. Hughes went 2-4 from the plate, scoring once and grabbing one RBI. Backes also went 2-4 from the plate, scoring once.

The Blue Jays started game two with a 1-0 lead and lit their bats up. The Blue Jays scored in every inning and finished the game with 16 hits in the 16-5 short-game win.

De. Hughes (5-0) was credited with the win after pitching six innings and striking out eight. Senior Andy Pichler went 3-5 from the plate, scoring three times and earning one RBI. Da. Hughes also went 3-5 from the plate. He scored twice and earned 3 RBI. De. Hughes and freshman Tyler Picha each went 2-4 from the plate and earned 2 RBI. De. Hughes scored three times and Picha scored twice. Sophomore A.C. Long finished the game with 11 putouts.

The Blue Jays came out strong on Sunday afternoon and grabbed three runs in the top of the first. Eureka scored two runs in the second. In the top of the third, Ty. Branneky hit a RBI double to score De. Hughes, bringing the Blue Jays’ lead to 4-2.

The Blue Jays’ bats caught fire in the top of the fifth as they scored six runs off five hits. Their success continued in the seventh inning when they grabbed five runs off four hits to take the 15-2 lead. The Blue Jays ended the seventh inning with three up, three down, giving them the 15-2 short-game win.

Junior Jake Rule (1-2) was credited with the win after pitched six innings and only allowing four hits. Ty. Branneky went 3-4 from the plate, scoring twice and grabbing 3 RBI. Backes and freshman Nolan Bax also finished with 3 RBI each. Chambliss finished with 11 putouts.

The Blue Jays will host Fontbonne University on Wednesday, April 9 at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is hosting a trivia and giveaway day at the games in celebration of Division III Week.