Baseball Plays Eureka in Three Games

CARLINVILLE, IL -- The Blackburn College Baseball team took on Eureka College in three games this weekend, with Saturday's doubleheader serving as St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchups and Sunday's single game played as a nonconference game. 

In the three games, sophomore Dominic Medrano led the way with six hits, two runs, a double, a home run and three run's batted in. Senior Andrew Lozano added four hits, five runs, and two doubles.

Freshman Andrew Medina tallied four hits, four rbi's, and scored two runs with junior Royce Congi posting three hits, including a double and a triple. 

On Saturday, the Red Devils scored first with two runs in the first inning but BC answered with one in their first when Lozano singled to get on and Medina singled to score Lozano. 

Eureka scored a run in the fourth and seventh inning, but the Beavers tied it at 4-4 with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman Pedro Medina walked to get on and then stole second. After Brett Lander reached first on an error, junior Harley Carney singled which helped P. Medina get to third, and Lozano followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score P. Medina. Sophomore Joshua Moreno came up next with a single to score Lander and put Carney on third. A passed ball allowed Carney to score and tied the game at 4-4. 

In the top of the eighth, Eureka tallied two runs with Blackburn getting one as A. Medina, Medrano, and senior R.J. Arredondo singled to load the bases and A. Medina scored from a wild pitch. 

The top of the ninth saw the Red Devils score five runs to take an 11-5 lead. Blackburn attempted to answer in the bottom of the inning. Lozano opened the inning by getting hit by a pitch. A groundout allowed him to get to second and he stole third. A. Medina walked to put two runners on. Medrano followed with a single to center, scoring Lozano. Arredondo then singled to right field, which resulted in a throwing error from Eureka, allowing A. Medina and Medrano to score. Unfortunately, it wasnt enough as BC was unable to score again, falling 11-8. 

In Saturday's second game, Congi tripled in the first inning which scored Lozano, who reached on an error. Congi scored thanks to another EC error and put Blackburn up 2-0. Eureka answered with two runs in their second inning. The teams traded a run in the fifth, with Lozano scoring again after getting on with a double. 

The top of the sixth featured two runs from Eureka, which BC answered with one in the seventh. Lozano scored his third run of the game as he got on with a double and took advantage of two fly outs to score, making the score 5-4. However, Eureka scored three runs in the eighth and ninth inning to win 11-4. 

Sunday's nonconference game saw the teams play at Eureka and saw the Red Devils take an early lead with a run in their first inning. They then added nine runs in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Blackburn got on the board when Medrano hit his second home run of the season. Freshman Carter Hood also scored as he pinch ran for A. Medina. The Beavers were unable to score again, ultimately falling 11-2. 

Blackburn will travel to regional power Illinois Wesleyan University Tuesday for a nonconference matchup before closing out the season Saturday with two games against SLIAC rival Greenville College. They will also honor their seniors Saturday.