Eutectics take two of three from Trolls snapping seven-game skid

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL – After a Friday doubleheader was wiped out due to weather, UHSP and Trinity Christian got together for a rare single-day tripleheader on Saturday. The Trolls won the opening game 6-2, but UHSP swept the final two games 9-3 and 10-8 to snap a seven-game losing streak.

In the opening game, Robert Uhlmeyer doubled in Logan Stribling in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1. Trinity Christian put a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. In the sixth, Nolan Harding would score on a wild pitch to make it 4-2, but the Trolls got a pair in the home half of the sixth to cap the scoring in the win. Uhlmeyer was the lone Eutectics to record multiple hits in the game as he went 2-for-3 with that RBI double. UHSP actually out-hit the Trolls 5-4 with four different TCC hitters each recorded a single hit. Chase Hedley walked one and struck out one going the distance for the Trolls to picked up the win. Barrett Lohman went the first four innings for UHSP and took the loss as he allowed four runs on three hits, walking three and striking out eight. Brayden Steves allowed two runs on a hit over the final two innings as he walked three and fanned a pair.

UHSP got right to work in the second game as Malcolm Merriweather drove in a run in the first. In the third, Merriweather would score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. TCC starter Silas Noe lasted just three innings and gave two runs on five hits, fanning three and walking two. The Trolls defense allowed a pair in the fourth as Uhlmeyer scored on a dropped fly ball in leftfield and Michael Morales would score on a wild pitch as the Purple and Gold led 4-0. UHSP starter Tristan Calmes was working with a cushion and was solid as he went six strong innings striking out six. He allowed three runs on four hits and walked two. The Eutectics gave Calmes more to work with as Uhlmeyer and Alston Morrell drove in runs in the fifth with hits. If it was not a comfortable lead at 6-0, Jovonnie Bautista crushed a two-run homer to left to blow it wide open. Uhlmeyer later scored in the inning on a wild pitch and it was 9-0. Calmes started the seventh trying for the complete game, but the Trolls loaded the bases with nobody out and Benson Holleman cleaned them off with a triple to the gap in left-center. Holden Campbell came on to get the final three outs striking out one in the win. UHSP pounded out a dozen hits and took advantage of four TCC errors. Uhlmeyer went 3-for-4 and both Merriweather and Stribling went 2-for-4. The Eutectics stole seven bases and were caught just once. In the second straight game for Trinity Christian, four different hitters had a singleton hit each.

For the rubber match of the three-game set, it was the Trolls that leapt to a 4-0 advantage scoring one in the first and three in the second. All of that came off UHSP starter Jordan Gonzalez who allowed six hits and a walk in his outing with just one of the four runs earned. The Eutectics would commit eight errors in the final game with two coming in the first two innings that did not make things easier for Gonzalez. In the third, Jabez King walked with one out and two batters later Nolan Harding got the visitors on the board with a two-run bomb to cut the deficit in half at 4-2. That all changed an inning later when Merriweather doubled to open the inning. Ruben Ogando pounded a game-tying homerun to make it 4-4. Later in the frame, King drove in a run with an infield hit and two would score on Harding's single to right coupled with an error and the Eutectics were in front 7-4. Not to be outdone, Connor Janik, Anthony Cappelletti and Preston Moore provided run-scoring hits in the home half of the fourth and it was tied at 7-7. With one out in the UHSP fifth, Logan Stribling doubled with one out. Ruben Ogando singled Stribling home and Uhlmeyer belted a triple down the rightfield line to plate Ogando. Uhlmeyer would score on an infield groundout by Dustin Aleck to put UHSP up three. TCC got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a wild pitch, chasing Braden Thomas from the mound, but Maguire Wakelyn slammed the door after that and pitched the Eutectics to the win. Wakelyn went two-and-a-third of no-hit baseball, fanning three and walking one. Thomas allowed four runs, one earned on five hits, striking out four and walking one. Justin Egan took the loss for the Trolls as he came on in relief of TCC starter Mike Zelko in the fourth. Zelko was touched for six runs on seven hits and Egan allowed four runs on four hits. Nolan Harding and Ruben Ogando each went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and a homerun. Robert Uhlmeyer went 3-for-3 with a triple. Each team had 11 hits and the two teams combined for eight extra base hits.

The Eutectics (5-8) will play a single game on Tuesday at home against Arkansas Baptist before they play their first-ever contest in the American Midwest Conference. UHSP will travel to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas on Friday to begin a three-game conference series against Williams Baptist (15-5).