O'FALLON, Mo. - Spalding baseball entered the 2023 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament with a bang as they downed Westminster College 20-0 in semifinal action.

SPALDING 20, WESTMINSTER 0
The bats were hot for SU from the beginning of the game. Two RBI doubles came in the first inning, courtesy of Jacob Spanyer and Hunter Strong, to give the Golden Eagles the early lead.

An inning and a half went by with no scoring. Strong put an end to that with a 2 RBI home run. That dinger was followed by another 2 RBI deep ball this time from Spanyer. 

In the fifth, Spalding had one runner score on a wild pitch and another come in on an Ethan Tuttle single to center field.

Three runs scored in the sixth. A bases-loaded hit by pitch, a wild pitch, and an RBI ground out sent three SU runners across home plate.

The Golden Eagles were not done scoring despite holding an 11-0 lead. In the seventh a total of seven runs scored. The third home run of the game kicked off the inning. Nicholas Salas slapped the ball out to left field for the 2 RBI dinger. A bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch brought in the next two. Tuttle brought in the next run on a 2 RBI double and a Spanyer sacrifice fly added another score.

Spalding brought two more runs home in the eighth inning to secure the 20-0 SLIAC Tournament shutout.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES

• Three Golden Eagles went 3-for-5. Michael Newsom, Jacob Spanyer, and Matthew McDowell led that charge.
• Ethan Tuttle and Spanyer led all batters in RBI with four each.
• Five pitchers spent time on the mound for Spalding. Caden Krystofiak got the start and win after pitching three innings. He was followed by Wes Clark who pitched two and 2/3 innings. Cameron Rayborn pitched an inning and 1/3 as the third pitcher to enter for the Golden Eagles.
• The last two SU pitchers allowed no hits. Ethan Murphy and Zach Vogt each spent an inning on the mound to close out the contest.
• Spalding outhit the Blue Jays 20-5.
• Thursday's game marks just the third time a team has scored 20 runs in a SLIAC Tournament game.

NEXT FOR SPALDING
The Golden Eagles face No. 1 seed Webster University at 3:30 p.m. EST at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. If Spalding wins the team moves to the championship. If SU falls in the Webster contest the team will play in the evening elimination contest.