March 1, 2003

Final Stats

MEMPHIS - Saint Louis University baseball dropped a 6-1 decision to Northern Illinois tonight at Tony Gagliano Field on the campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College. The Billikens could not capitalize on four Husky errors in the fourth innings after falling behind in a three-run first inning.

Senior Ben Hutton made his return to the mound tonight in his first appearance since shoulder surgery a year ago. The Billiken right-hander gave up three hits in the first innings, which the Huskies parlayed into three runs to take the early lead. Saint Louis had an opportunity to rally in the fourth when Ryan Murphy opened the inning by reaching on an error, but field conditions helped the Husky second baseman get a bead on Don Rogers' drive through the infield to turn a 4-6-3 double play. After Corey Lawson and Andrew Slania reached on errors, junior Kyle Wort drove in the game's only run before getting caught in a rundown to kill the rally.

For the Billikens, sophomore Kurt Struckhoff relieved Hutton in the fifth to pitch two solid innings. Junior Joe Buehler came on in the seventh only to see three runs score when the Huskies gained momentum on a bloop single down the first base line. Freshmen Patrick Burtch and Tim Landy rounded out the Billiken hurlers with appearances in the ninth inning.

Saint Louis wraps up the weekend against Ball State on Sat., Mar. 2, at 1 p.m. Lawson is scheduled to start on the mound.