CARLINVILLE, Ill - Spalding softball continued their St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) winning streak with back-to-back doubleheader sweeps over the Blackburn Beavers and the Eureka Red Devils. 

The Golden Eagles improved their overall record to 16-8 and their conference record to 5-1.

SERIES 1
GAME ONE - SPALDING 7, BLACKBURN 2

With the start of the first inning, Spalding was off to an electric start. Dawn Wilson walked, then moved to second off of a steal. Wilson was able to make it to home from a RBI triple to right field by Grayce Marcum. Like Wilson, Jessica Tucker got onto the base from a walk and then she made a dash towards second to steal. Bella Velez was up next at the plate. She brought Marcum and Tucker home with a two RBI double towards left field. This put the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 lead

Madison Loechle helped Velez get into a position to score by being grounded out by the Beavers second baseman. This allowed Velez to advance to third. Kaleigh Franklin-Brooks was the batter to send Velez home. Franklin-Brooks nabbed a RBI triple to bring Velez home. Franklin-Brooks was able to make her way home due to a wild pitch to secure the lead for Spalding with a score of 5-0 by the end of the inning.

The Beavers fought back in the following frame. With Mackey and Smith being brought in by two separate RBI doubles to bring the score up to 5-2.

The action picked back up with Spalding furthered their lead in the top of the fifth. Loechle was the first Golden Eagle to get onto base with a walk. Franklin-Brooks nabbed a a double towards right center while Loechle advanced to third. Jenni Beasley was up next at bat. She nabbed a two RBI single towards right center to send Loechle and Franklin-Brooks home to bring the final score to 7-2 to end the game.

GAME TWO - SPALDING 14, BLACKBURN 7

The start of the second game in this double header had a similar start to the previous game. Wilson lead off for the Golden Eagles. With several fielding errors from the Beavers defense, she was able to round the bases and made it home for the first run of the game. Marcum followed Wilson's lead when she got into a scoring position from a single out towards center field and then a dash towards second. Marcum made her way towards third when Velez had a ground out from the third baseman. Marcum made her way home off of a RBI single from  Loechle to end the frame with the score of 2-0.

A great showing of the Spalding defense allowed them to get their player back up to bat in the top of the second. Brooklynn Nolot was the first batter to reach the bases this inning with a single towards center field. Karlee Terral copied Nolot with a single but his time it was sent towards right field. A ground out from Wilson allowed both Nolot and Terral to advance to a scoring position. Both of the Golden Eagles were sent home with help from Marcum. She nabbed herself a two RBI triple towards center field. Spalding's lead increased to a 4-0 lead over Blackburn.

The Beavers tacked on two runs in the bottom of the second but the Golden Eagles doubled that up to go up 8-2 at the end of the third. Blackburn added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the SU lead to 8-2.

An RBI single, two scores on ground outs and a Velez homer to center field push the Spalding lead up yet again. After a one-run sixth inning for SU, the Beavers added three runs to their tally in hopes to make a late come back. An RBI triple from Marcum and a ground out that send Marcum home were the final runs scored in the 14-7 win.

SERIES 2
GAME ONE - SPALDING 10, EUREKA 2

On the second day of the SLIAC road trip, the Golden Eagles went up against the Red Devils from Eureka. A loaded bases walk scored the first run of the game, which came in the second inning. A single from Terral to left field led Franklin-Brooks home to bring Spalding to a 2-0 lead at the end of the frame. 

Jessica Tucker lead off the Golden Eagles in the top of the third with a walk to first and then a dash for the steal at second base. She was able to made it to third off of a Velez single that made its way to center field. Tucker was soon brought home from a ground out for Loechle. This furthered the lead for Spalding to 3-0.

During the fourth inning, Terral reached first by a fielding error by the pitcher which allowed her to get on third. She was brought home by Wilson with a RBI ground out by the third basemen. With Marcum being hit by a pitch and with a Tucker walk, the Golden Eagles were ready to make another attempt at home. An RBI single by Velez, allowed Marcum to reach home followed by a RBI single from Loechle that brought Tucker home.

The Red Devils put up a little bit of a fight with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but four runs from the visiting team scored in the next frame gave Spalding the 10-2 run-rule win.

GAME TWO - SPALDING 3, EUREKA 1

In the second game of the double header, Marcum hit a single towards center field to get on base in the first inning. She then stole second to land in scoring position. Velez hit a RBI single that ended up in center field, to get Marcum home.

Franklin-Brooks lead off Spalding at the top of the second. She ended up taking a walk then immediately stole second when she had a chance. Beasley put Franklin-Brooks into a position to score when she hit a single towards left field. When Beasley made a successful attempt at a steal towards second, Franklin-Brooks scored on a throwinf error by the opposing catcher. After making a successful steal at third, Beasley was brought home from a RBI single by Wilson for the final run in the inning to bring the score to 3-0.

The Red Devils scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the second on an error. Spalding held on and won the 3-1 contest.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES

• In the first game against Blackburn, Grayce Marcum went three-for-four at the plate. Bella Velez and Jenni Beasley led the team in RBI with two each.
• In the second Blackburn game, Brooklynn Nolot went a perfect four-for-four at the plate. While Marcum lead the team in RBI with four for the game.
• In the first game against Eureka, Bella Velez went three-for-four at the plate. Madison Loechle and Karlee Terral lead the team with two RBI each for the game.
• In the second Eureka game, Jessica Tucker went two-for-three at the plate. With Dawn Wilson and Velez sharing the lead for RBI with one each.
• Michaela Ferman was the winning pitcher in the first game against the Beavers. She played the full seven innings and finished with eight strikeouts and only two earned runs.
• Erica McMann pitched the full seven innings in the second Blackburn contest and won the game for the Golden Eagles. She allowed seven earned runs and struck out two batters.
• Velez was the wining pitcher for the first game against the Red Devils. She allowed just one earned run on four hits.
• Ferman played the full seven innings in the circle in the second Eurkea game. She allowed no earned runs and struck out nine batters.

UP NEXT FOR SPALDING
The Golden Eagles return home this weekend, for another back-to-back SLIAC double header weekend. They play the Webster Gorlocks on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. before hosting Westminster on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.