March 26, 2006

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Senior Johnny Sweeney drove in three runs on four hits, including a pair of doubles, as Saint Louis wrapped up its first Atlantic 10 Conference series with an 8-3 victory over Richmond this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. After breaking a 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Billikens (10-10, 2-1 A-10) scored at least once in the next three innings as the bullpen fought off late game attacks from the Spiders (6-14, 1-2 A-10) to deliver the season's first win for junior right-hander Brock Hewitt.

After Hewitt worked around a hit and an error in the top of the first, the Billikens struck first in the bottom half of the inning. Tim Landy drew a one-out walk and moved to third on Sweeney's single to left. Casey Moore continued his hot hitting with a two-out double down the left field line to score Landy. Gilbert Marlowe was hit by a pitch to load the bases and send UR starter Stephen Owens off the mound in favor of Ian Marshall. The freshman forced a ground ball to mitigate the damage.

The Spiders threatened in the second with a pair of hits before Hewitt struck out Austin Reilly and got Benji Marshall to fly out to end the inning. UR knotted things up in the top of the third after Alex Wotring led off with a double to right center. Ben Zeskind poked a single through the left side to put runners on the corners with one out. Hewitt forced Joe Mahoney to pop up for the second out, but saw Wotring score on an error as Zeskind stole second. A ground ball ended the inning with the score tied 1-1.

Marshall held the tie through the fourth, despite two hits and a wild pitch, but saw a leadoff single from Lance Rhodes start a two-run fifth inning for SLU. Landy put a single in right center, and Sweeney picked up the first of his three RBI with a single to center. The Spiders intentionally walked Greg Rodgers to load the bases before going to the bullpen for sophomore right-hander Brian Alas. Moore worked a walk to give the Bills a 3-1 lead before Alas got a strike out and a ground ball to keep UR close.

SLU added two more runs in the sixth after Ziggy Moore was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After Rhodes sacrificed him to second and Ryan Crespi drew a walk, Sweeney's double to left center made it a 5-1 contest. Richmond answered with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Matt McKenna opened with a bung single, and fielding error put two runners on. Hewitt hit Wotring a pitch to load the bases as SLU went to the bullpen for senior right-hander Etienne Ratte-Delorme. Zeskind picked up the RBI on a ground ball that was misplayed by the Billiken defense, and Mahoney cut the lead to 5-3 with a ground out before Ratte-Delorme fanned Andrew Justice to close out the inning. Two hits and an error allowed SLU to push the lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the frame after Crespi drew a bases-loaded walk from Wyatt Stewart.

UR looked to get back on the board in the eighth when pinch hitter Joe White drew a two-out walk to move McKenna to second, but Ratte-Delorme again closed the inning with a strikeout. The Billikens loaded the bases again in the bottom of the eighth after Sweeney's double and a sacrifice from Casey Moore walked to load the bases, and Marlowe lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it a 7-3 margin. Bill Musselman added an RBI single through the left side to wrap up the scoring. Billiken reliever B.J. Rodrigue came on in the ninth inning, working around a walk to close out the victory.

Hewitt improved to 1-3 on the season as he struck out three and allowed just one earned run in 6-1/3 innings. Marshall took the loss for Richmond, yielding two runs on six hits in 3-2/3 innings of relief. Sweeney's four hits let all hitters, while Musselman added three and Landy two to the Billikens' hit total of 13.

Saint Louis returns to action on Tue., Mar. 28, for a 3 p.m. game against Eastern Illinois at The Billiken Sports Center.