ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The eighth ranked Webster University baseball team was back in action this afternoon when they played host to the Eureka (Ill.) College Red Devils for a SLIAC doubleheader. The Gorloks swept the doubleheader as they won the first game by a final score of 15-4 and the second game by a final score of 9-5 to improve to 33-6 on the season and 17-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. With the sweep, the Gorloks have captured their 15^th straight SLIAC Regular Season Title and the top see in the 2022 SLIAC Baseball Tournament.

Prior to the start of the game, the Webster University baseball program honored the 2012 and 2013 teams that made it the NCAA Division III College World Series. The team also honored Head Coach Bill Kurich for reaching his 500^th career win in April.

The Gorloks put together 10 hits in the first game of the day. They got on the board first in the bottom of the first when they rallied for three runs to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. The Red Devils answered with a run in the top of the second, but seven runs over the next two innings put the Gorloks up 10-1 in the contest. The Red Devils scored a run in the top of the fourth and a run in the top of the fifth, but a five-run rally from Webster in the bottom of the fifth put the Gorloks up 15-3 in the game. Eureka scored one final run in the top of the seventh, but the Gorloks picked up the final outs of the contest to solidify the teams 300^th SLIAC win in the last 16 seasons under Bill Kurich.

Jordan Smevoll was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed six hits and one earned run while striking out four in 4.0 innings. Bobby Strandt (1-0), Sebastian Barrera, and Ryan LaPlante pitched in relief as the three combined to allow four hits and two earned runs while striking out three in the final 3.0 innings of the game.

R.J. LaRocco and Ben Swords led the way for Webster at the plate as LaRocco went 1-for-2 with four RBI and Swords went 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a three-run homerun (5). Evan Evola also had a nice game as he went 2-for-2 with a two-run homerun (7). In addition, A.J. Smith went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Austin Jisa added an RBI.

The Gorloks carried over their momentum into the second game as they tallied 14 hits in the contest. The Red Devils got on the board first in this one as they scored a run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Webster bounced back as they rallied for two runs in the bottom of the first, three runs in the bottom of the second, and two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 7-1 advantage. The Red Devils cut the lead to 7-5 over the next three innings, but two runs in the bottom of the sixth extend the Gorloks lead to 9-5 in the contest. Webster shut the Red Devils down in the final innings and solidified the win to capture their 15^th straight SLIAC Regular Season Title.

Alek Elges (8-2) was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed six hits and four earned runs while striking out four in 5.0 innings. Ben Kowalski pitched in relief as he allowed three hits while striking out four in the final 4.0 innings of the game.

The long ball was working for Webster in this one as Adam Lovell hit a three run homerun (3), Evan Evola hit a two run homerun (8), and Zach Goodman hit a solo homerun (2). In addition, A.J. Smith went 3-for-4 with two RBI and R.J. LaRocco went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Gorloks will conclude their regular season tomorrow, May 8^th when they host Eureka (Ill.) College for the final game of the three game series. This game will serve as Senior Day for the Gorloks and we will honor the eight seniors on the team prior to first pitch. First pitch is set for noon at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.