"Coach (Bob Gold) got us ready before the game on the bus and gave us a little scouting report on (Mount Pulaski)," Jacobson said. "We paid attention."

Smart move, guys.

Jacobson slugged a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Hornets some breathing room, and ace Ryan Eigsti quelled a Mount Pulaski uprising in the bottom of the seventh to preserve Eureka's 6-4 victory in the Illinois Wesleyan Class A Super-Sectional.

Eureka (25-4) earned its first state tournament berth and will face defending champion Wilmington at 4 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals at Springfield's Lanphier Park. Mount Pulaski (26-6-1) also was seeking its first Elite Eight berth.

"I think right now they have their eyes set on doing some damage (at state)," Gold said. "Our biggest hurdle was getting out of that (Putnam County) sectional. It was pretty emotional for us. This win today just caps it off."

Jacobson's two-run blast to right field off Mount Pulaski starter Josh Blaum highlighted a three-run rally which helped Eureka extend a 3-2 lead to 6-2.

"I'm not a home run hitter. I just try to put the ball in play," Jacobson said. "It was a juiced fastball so I sat back on it and let it rip."

Sophomore Nick Eeten (7-1) relieved Eureka starter Justin Houch in the fourth and pitched 3Â shutout innings before Mount Pulaski cut the deficit in half on Thomas Maske's two-out double in the seventh. Eigsti, a Bradley recruit, relieved Eeten and struck out Blaum on four pitches to notch his third save.

"Eigsti is definitely the stopper," Houch said. "If we can get Eigsti in the game in the last couple of innings and we have the lead, I don't think there's a team in the state that can beat us."

Eureka grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on Houch's RBI single and an RBI fielder's choice by Eeten. Mount Pulaski tied it in the second on Tim Milner's two-run double, but Eureka regained the lead in the fourth on Cody Kyle's solo homer down the left field line.

"Not falling behind was key," Gold said. "Getting that lead let us relax a little bit."

Houch worked the first three innings for Eureka, allowing two earned runs and four hits, before being relieved by Eeten after walking Craig Erlenbush to lead off the fourth. Eeten allowed three hits and two runs, one earned, with four strikeouts and one walk.

"We've used a lot of arms the last couple of days, so I kind of had to go," Eeten said. "I felt all right until the last inning. I thought for the most part I hit my spots, but I didn't have overpowering stuff because of all those innings I've thrown."

Said Gold: "Justin starting out the game and going through their lineup a couple of time was big for us because we got a lot of work out of Nick last week. Houch pitched three innings Saturday, so I was only looking for two or three innings from him today."

Kyle and Tyler Holman each collected two of Eureka's 10 hits, and B.J. Zobrist had an RBI single in the sixth. Blaum allowed eight hits and five earned runs in 5Ä innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Milner went 3-for-3 for the Hilltoppers.

"With the type of team we've got with pitching and defense as our core and not such a heavy-hitting team, we need to get the lead," said Mount Pulaski coach Gale Clark. "When we came back 2-2, I was still thinking if we could just get up 3-2 or 4-2 we would be sitting in good shape, but it didn't happen.

"We gave ourselves a chance to tie it at the end, and that's a testament to the character of the boys of this team. A lot of teams probably would have lost 6-2 today."