O'FALLON, Mo. – The Spalding baseball team advanced to the SLIAC Tournament championship next weekend defeating Fontbonne, 7-2, in the semifinal game improving to 29-13 on the season. This marks the second straight season SU has advanced to the championship.
 
Caleb Collins (7-1) earned the victory, limiting Fontbonne to 2 runs, 1 earned, on 3 hits, while striking out 5 batters in 6.0 innings pitched. Clay Burton held the Griffins hitless in an inning of relief action and Aaron Blake closed out the final two innings scattering 1 hit and striking out 1 batter.
 
First baseman, Dryden Schroeder led SU at the plate going 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, while driving in one run and scoring two. Evan Trentman also finished with a pair of hits going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run-scored. Zane Baker had a team-best 2 RBIs.  
 
After a scoreless first, the Eagles got on the scoreboard in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Schoeder led off the inning with a triple to right center and Michael Speck single brought him in for the first run of the game. The Spalding bats got hot in the third scoring six runs on five hits. Another triple, this time by Mitchell Langley, drove in Marcus Collins for the second run of the game and a Trentman single up the middle scored Langley to extend the lead to three runs. Back-to-back doubles by Eric Meyer and Schroeder scored two more runs and a Zane Baker double off the wall drove in Schroeder and JT Johnson to give SU a 7-0 advantage. Fontbonne scored a run in both the fifth and sixth inning, but the Griffins were never a threat as the Eagles defense shut the door.
 
Up next, Spalding will take on the number-one seed Webster in a best-of-three series next weekend. The top seeded Gorloks will host the championship series on their home field at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. The series will open with a doubleheader Friday, May 21 beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. If the doubleheader is split, the "if necessary" game three will be played Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET.