SLIAC athletics photo

There seems to a bit of deja vu in SLIAC Baseball as Spalding University and Webster University met for the 6th straight year in the championship game. And just like last year it was Spalding on top at the end of the day, winning their second straight SLIAC Baseball Championship.

Spalding got off to a fast to start both in the field and on offense. Clay Burton got the start for the Golden Eagles and struck out the first batter of the game on his way to setting the Gorloks down in order in the top of the 1st inning. When the Golden Eagles came to plate in the bottom half it was Ethan Tuttle starting things with a lead-off double. Matthew McDowell followed with an RBI single as the Golden Eagles grabbed the quick 1-0 lead.

The two teams would trade blow over the next two innings. Webster tied the game up in the next frame when Nathaniel Martinez, who led the inning off with a walk, came around to score on a RBI single by Zach Goodman. The Golden Eagles got that run right back in the bottom half when Dryden Schroeder scored on a sacrifice fly from Whit Callahan.

In the top of the 3rd it was Karl Peters hitting a lead-off home run to once again draw the game even. However Spalding plated two runs in the bottom half when Evan Fisher ripped a two-run double just inside the left field foul line. The 4th inning finally saw a full scoreless inning, one of what would be just two in the game.

Webster got the scoring going again in the 5th with two runs on two hits and a walk. The big blow was back-to-back RBI's for Martinez and Parker Murrow. The Spalding offense rose to the occasion again, answering back; this time with three runs for a 7-4 lead. It was Schroeder, Caleb Coffey, and Tuttle picking up RBI hits in the frame for the Golden Eagles.

Webster made it a 7-5 game when Murrow hit a solo home run in the 7th inning but that was as close as the Gorloks would get. Spalding tacked on an extra run in the 8th when Fisher singled in McDowell.

The Gorloks threatened in the 9th with Martinez leading the inning off with a double and Nick Schumacher reaching on an error and bringing the tying run up the plate. However Cameron Rayborn, who threw 4 innings yesterday, closed out the game by retiring the final two batters on fly balls. Rayborn worked two scoreless innings in the game to pick up the save after nothing the win last night.

Evan Fisher had four hits and three RBI for Spalding with Ethan Tuttle adding three hits. Webster's Evan Evola, Parker Murrow, and R.J. LaRocco each had two hits.

Spalding is now 30-12 overall this season and as winners of the conference's automatic bid to the national tournament, await the announcement of the full field on Monday.