March 15, 2006

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Sophomore Greg Rodgers drove in a pair of runs in the third inning, but Saint Louis could not muster enough offense as Evansville collected a 6-2 victory tonight at Braun Stadium. The Billikens (7-7) fell behind early as the Purple Aces (10-9) plated four runs in the first two innings and tacked on two more in the bottom of the seventh.

In his first start in more than two weeks, junior Brock Hewitt struggled early, hitting the first batter he faced and throwing a wild pitch that moved the runner to second. After striking out Kern Watts, Hewitt saw leadoff man Jim Viscomi steal third and score on Kasey Wahl's ground ball to short. The second inning was just as shaky as Kirk Bacsu opened with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on Kerrick Cron's sacrifice bunt. Jeff Zelenovich singled to left for a 2-0 lead, and Gabe Bauer was hit by a pitch. A ground ball moved both runners up a base for Viscomi's two-run double to left, which made it a 4-0 margin.

The Billikens looked to answer right away when Tom Pinnell (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) opened the third with a double down the left field line. Jon Guyre (Hazelwood, Mo./DeSmet) ripped a double to right to move Pinnell to third. UE starter Mitch Prout retired the next two Billikens before Rodgers cut the lead in half with a two-run single to center. Gilbert Marlowe and Tim Landy each drew walks to load the bases, but Prout got Bill Musselman to foul out to end the threat.

Hewitt worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, and reliever Etienne Ratte-Delorme faced one over the minimum through the next three innings. Unfortunately, Prout and Jeremy Kuester similarly stymied the Billiken offense. Evansville extended the lead to 6-2 with a pair of runs on three hits, including a triple from Wahl, in the bottom of the seventh.

SLU made a push in the ninth inning as Musselman led off with a single to center. Matt Mach replaced the Billiken catcher at first on a fielder's choice. Guyre drew a two-out walk, and Ryan Crespi loaded the bases on catcher's interference. Kuester recovered to induce a ground ball to secure the victory.

Hewitt fell to 0-3 with the loss, while Kuester improved to 1-0 on the season. Pinnell was the lone Billiken with multiple hits on the night.

The Billikens return to action this weekend at The Billiken Sports Center, opening a three-game series with Purdue at 2 p.m. on Fri., Mar. 17. Saturday and Sunday games are slated for 1 p.m.