May 14, 2000

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University baseball ended its season with a 7-2 loss this afternoon to UAB at The Billiken Sports Center. The Blazers out-hit the Billikens (19-34, 6-21 C-USA) 12-6, including two home runs and four doubles. Nick Steiner (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) led Saint Louis, going 2-for-5 at the plate, but it was senior Brian Haddock (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH) that drove in both runs on a two-out single with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Saint Louis starter Ryan Warnecke (Highland, Ill./BAC) looked sharp early, but a leadoff walk in the third was the beginning of trouble for the senior. A one-out double by UAB's Dan DeMent plated a pair of runs just before Brent Laircey hit his third homer of the series to clear the bases and put the Blazers in front 4-0. A leadoff double in the fifth gave Brandon Isbell two RBI on his home run to left center.

Meanwhile, the Billiken offense was stymied. Steiner had a single in the bottom of the first and for the next four innings, it was Saint Louis' only hit of the game. Paul Miles (St. Louis, Mo./Jefferson College) led off the sixth with a single, followed by a Haddock free pass. The heart of the order, Brandon Shockley (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central), Steiner and Adam Shea (Chesterfield, Mo./DeSmet) could not bring either runner home, however.

The Bills were working on UAB's starter Tebe Shaw and finally broke through in the seventh. Jim Bredenkoetter (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet) started the inning with a single. Two batters later, Kurt Evans (Germantown, Tenn./Christian Bros.) was hit by a pitch. Miles drew the two-out walk to load the bases for Haddock. In his final appearance in a Billiken uniform, the centerfielder put one through to centerfield to plate Bredenkoetter and Evans.

Sophomore Wes Jaillet (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) came on in the fifth in relief of Warnecke and held the Blazers in check for the rest of the game. He gave up a run in the seventh, but allowed just four hits and struck out five in 4-1/3 innings.