April 5, 2005

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - After Saint Louis junior right-hander Etienne Ratte-Delorme allowed just one run and struck out five in nine innings, the Billiken bullpen saw Southeast Missouri State rally for a 3-2 10-inning victory this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. The Red Hawks took advantage of a Billiken error to tie the game in the fifth then forced SLU to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to negate Ratte-Delorme's stellar outing on the mound.

In a game that was a pitchers' duel from the opening inning, the most compelling action came in the final two innings of play. Ratte-Delorme worked around a hit batter and a single in the top of the ninth to keep the game tied for the Billikens' final at-bat. Scott Peden led off the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle off SEMO reliever Joey Evans, which extended Peden's hitting streak to 15 games. The Red Hawks called Joey Evans out of the bullpen to face Johnny Sweeney, who dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Peden into scoring position with one out. SEMO opted to intentionally walk Patrick Valdez to get to catcher Bill Musselman, who had just come off the bench in the top of the inning after Casey Moore was injured. The sophomore worked a walk to load the bases and put Parham in trouble. The Red Hawks' sophomore left-hander left all three men stranded with a strikeout and a fly ball to force the extra inning.

Saint Louis went to the bullpen for freshman left-hander Eric Brewer in the top of the 10th, who walked the leadoff man. With the three and four hitters coming up, the Billikens turned to B.J. Rodrigue on the mound. Ernie Bracamonte dropped a sacrifice bunt to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and Frank Montiel's single to center put runners on the corner with just one out. SEMO's designated hitter Freddy Lopez drove a double to right center to plate both runners and give the Red Hawks a 3-1 advantage. After a single put runners on the corners again, Rodrigue retired the next two hitters to end the inning.

The Billikens had the top of the order up in the bottom of the 10th, and pinch hitter Neil Graser singled to center off SEMO reliever Josh Parham to start things off. Pat Steinhoff's single to left got by the fielder just enough for Graser to score from first and cut the lead to 3-2. With one out in the inning, Parham turned the game over to junior right-hander Jamie McAlister. A ground ball moved pinch runner Lance Rhodes to third. A strikeout left the tying run stranded 90 feet away and delivered the victory for Evans and the Red Hawks.

Brewer took the loss for the Billikens, falling to 0-3 on the season, while McAlister picked up his first save of the season for SEMO. Red Hawks catcher Brady Noll posted a game-high three hits as SEMO out-hit SLU 11-7 on the afternoon.

The Billikens play their first road game in two weeks on Wed., Apr. 6, when they travel to SMS for a 7 p.m. contest at Hammonds Field.