March 24, 2004

Final Stats

PEORIA, Ill. - Saint Louis University baseball rallied late to send the game to extra innings, but could not keep Bradley off the board after two errors in the 11th in an 11-10 loss at O'Brien Field this afternoon. The Billikens (6-15) scored two in the top of the ninth to tie the game and two more in the top of the 11th on John Bridges' triple to left center, but the Braves (11-4) took the win behind a two-out single from Jason Newburger in the bottom of the frame.

SLU starter Joe Buehler was effective early, mowing down the Braves in the first three innings. After freshman Jon Greenwich put SLU on the board with a home run in the top of the fourth, the Braves' offense awakened with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Bradley added two more in the bottom of the fifth to force Buehler off the mound in favor of Kris Weber. The senior left-hander struck out the next two hitters to hold the lead at 4-1. Bradley used a pair of hits in the sixth to put one more run on the board while their starter, Brandon Magee, retired the Billikens in order in the fifth and sixth innings.

Trailing 5-1, the Billikens got hot and took advantage of two errors in the seventh. Freshman Mark Hankes singled to right and moved to third on Tim Landy's single through the right side. Michael Crane plated Hankes on a ground ball that also retire Landy for the second out of the inning. Freshman Bill Musselman reached on an error, and Crane scored when Patrick Valdez singled to center to cut the lead to 5-3. After stealing second, Valdez scored on Aaron Thompson's single to center, which the centerfield misplayed to score Musselman as well and put Thompson on third. After BU went to reliever Mike Jakubowski, Scott Peden drove a single to center, which plated Thompson and gave the Bills a 6-5 lead.

After issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eight, Weber turned the game over to Dave Guntorius. A sacrifice and another Billiken error with two outs in the inning tied the game, and Bradley's Rene Aqueron put the Braves on top with a two-run home run to left. Bradley went to closer Joshua Caruso in the top of the ninth, looking to close down the Billikens and remain unbeaten at home this season. But, the Bills had other ideas.

Johnny Sweeney led off the ninth with a bullet to the second baseman and moved to second on Drew Eder's pinch-hit single through the right side. Valdez's ground ball pushed Sweeney to third, but retired Jon Guyre, who was pinch running for Eder. Thompson picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to center and pull SLU within one run. Peden took advantage of a Bradley error to stretch the inning. With runners at first and second, Greenwich drove a single up the middle to plate Valdez and tie the game a 8-8.

The bottom of the ninth got off to an inauspicious start for the Bills as Brad Canada reached on an error. Pinch runner Jake Livingston moved to second on Dan Puente's sacrifice, but Guntorius got pinch hitter Patrick Ryerson to foul out to Sweeney in left field and caught Ryan Curry looking at strike three to send the game to extra innings.

The Billikens could not get any offense going in the top of the 10th, and Kurt Struckhoff took the mound in the bottom of the inning and held the Braves similarly in check. Valdez opened the 11th with a double down the left field line and moved to third on Thompson's sacrifice. Caruso intentionally walked Peden and got Greenwich to look at strike three for the second out of the inning. Down to their last out, the Billikens went to Bridges to pinch hit, and the junior answered by driving the ball to right center to plate both Valdez and Peden and give SLU a two-run lead.

Struckhoff opened the bottom of the inning with a strikeout and appeared to have the second out on a ground ball, but Ross Vandehey reached on an error. After getting Puente to look at strike three, Ryerson singled up the middle to bring the winning run to the plate. Curry singled and moved to second on another Billiken error while Vandehey scored and Ryerson moved to third. Newburger's dramatic shot down the left field line brought home both men and the win for Bradley.

For the Billikens, Thompson finished the afternoon with three hits, while Greenwich and Bridges led the team with two RBI each. Struckhoff took the loss despite striking out three in 1-2/3 innings of work.

Saint Louis is back in action with a Conference USA series this weekend against UAB. The three-game set begins on Fri., March 26, at 7 p.m. at The Billiken Sports Center.