February 26, 2000

Box Score

TULSA, OKLA. - Saint Louis University baseball fell to 0-3 on the season after losing 13-7 to Northwestern State University (La.) this afternoon in at Oral Roberts' J.L. Johnson Field. Power man Nick Steiner (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway West) crushed his third home run in as many games, but it was not enough to overcome the Billikens' pitching mistakes.

Down 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, designated hitter Jeremiah Harrington (Los Angeles, Calif./Palasades) hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to narrow the gap. Northwestern State threatened in the top of the fifth, but the Billikens were able to avoid a deeper hole.

After Saint Louis left two runners stranded in the bottom of the fifth, the team's pitching woes resurfaced. With two outs, starter Ben Hutton (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) gave up three hits to give NSU another run and two more men on base. Brad Wehfritz (Chesterfiel, Mo./Parkway Central) came on in relief and walked two and hit another batter to put two more runs on the board. Billiken head coach Bob Hughes turned to freshman Jacob Baumgartner (Auxvasse, Mo./North Callaway) who did not far any better as a pair of bases loaded walks put the Billikens at a 9-3 deficit before the inning ended.

Saint Louis answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning with junior Paul Miles (St. Louis, Mo./Jefferson College) hitting a sac fly to bring in Harrington, Eric Constable (Chesterfield, Mo./Marquette) driving another run and Steiner's two-run dinger wrapping up the scoring. Trailing 9-7, it was as close as the Billikens would come.

Hutton (0-1) took the loss after giving up six earned runs and striking out one in 5-2/3 innings. NSU's Adam Stout (2-2) captured the win.

The Billikens are back in action tomorrow afternoon against Oral Roberts at 1 p.m.