March 1, 2000

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University baseball fell to Eastern Illinois 4-2 this afternoon at the Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens (1-5) struck first in the bottom of the second, but could not generate enough offense down the stretch to stave off the Panthers.

Starting pitcher Wes Jaillet (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) kept the Panthers off the board until Brian Nickell put one over the centerfield wall in the top of the fifth. Eastern Illinois put two more on the board in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to 3-1.

Saint Louis answered in the bottom of the sixth inning when Nick Steiner (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) hit his fourth home run of the season to left field. EIU scored again in the top of the eighth when Matt Marzec's triple scored Josh Landon who had a lead-off walk.

The Billiken threatened in the bottom of the inning when Adam Shea (Chesterfield, Mo./DeSmet) and Jim Bredenkoetter (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet) walked to open the frame. The Panthers brought in closer Mike Ziroli and he shut down the next three batters.

Relief pitcher Ben Hutton (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) closed out his third inning in the ninth, getting the Panthers to go down in order. Again, Saint Louis rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Kurt Evans (Germantown, Tenn./Christian Bros.) hit a two-out single to keep the team alive. Brian Haddock (Los Angles, Calif./Palasades) singled to right to bring up Steiner. The reliable power hitter was denied by Ziroli as he struck out to end the game.

The Billikens return to action this Friday, Mar. 3 at 3 p.m. in the first of three games against Illinois-Chicago.