March 10, 2006

Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Senior AshLeigh Williams smacked a two-run single in the top of the fifth inning to help Saint Louis claim a 4-3 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Friday in the opening game of the Alabama Central Credit Union Bulldog Bash at Bulldog Field.

The Billikens (2-5) got on the board quick thanks to a two-out RBI double from Logan Justice. Ashlee Heady reached on a walk, advanced to second an a fielder's choice, then stole third base to easily score on Justice's drive to right field.

ULM (11-11) answered in the bottom half of the second. Heather Williams reached after being hit by an Ashley Levan pitch, and then scored on a Courtney Tuggle double to right-center to knot the game 1-1.

SLU appeared to break the game open with three runs in the fifth. Jess Burns reached on an error, and advanced to second on a Jill Pursell single. Christy Ernst smacked an RBI single to drive in Burns. Pursell and Ernst later scored when Williams poked a two-run single for the first RBIs of her season and a 4-1 Billiken advantage.

The Lady Indians gave the Bills a scare in their half of the fifth. A leadoff single and a SLU error set up a two-run single by Lindsay Schafer. With ULM still threatening, Lorena Floccari spelled SLU starter Levan and got out of a jam with the Billikens still clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Levan picked up her second win of the season in the circle after going 4-2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits. She struck out six batters and walked only one. Floccari picked up her third career save after pitching the final 2-1/3 and allowing no runs on only one hit. She is now second all-time in school history with three saves.

Pursell posted a multi-hit game for the third consecutive contest with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Justice posted two hits in the game for her first multi-hit game of the year.

SLU returns to action at Bulldog Field in a matchup with host Samford at 4 p.m. on Friday.