March 28, 2006

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - A four-run seventh inning and a three-run home run from number seven Greg Rodgers powered Saint Louis to a 7-2 victory over Eastern Illinois this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. After Ziggy Moore put the Bills (11-10) on top with a two-run double in the seventh, Rodgers sealed the victory with his three-run shot in the eighth. The Panthers (8-11) matched the Billikens' eight hits, but the pitching combination of Ryan Bird and Kurt Struckhoff forced EIU to leave eight men on base.

The Panthers struck first in the top of the third inning after a pair of singles from Blake Meyer and Adam Varrassi and a walk to Bret Nommensen loaded the bases. Mark Chagnon's ground ball brought Meyer home, and an error put Chagnon on first to keep the bases loaded. Erik Huber lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Varrassi for a 2-0 lead. Bird caught Ryan Campbell looking at strike three for the second out, and Bill Musselman and Tom Pinnell combined to throw out Nommensen racing for home on a delayed steal on the pitch.

On the other side, the Billikens could not find their rhythm against EIU starter Drew Gierich as the junior right-hander allowed just two hits and struck out four in his six innings of work. After Struckhoff came in and worked around a hit and an error in the top of the seventh, the Billiken bats came alive against EIU reliever Ross Jeske.

Ryan Crespi led off the pivotal seventh with a walk and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. He scored on Johnny Sweeney's double to left. After Jeske recorded a pair of ground ball outs that left Tim Landy on first, Gilbert Marlowe drove a single through the right side to advance Landy to second. Musselman tied the game with an RBI single to left, which also Jeske to the dugout in favor of Huber, who had been playing first. After looking at ball one, Moore powered a double to left to bring both Marlowe and Musselman home for a 4-2 lead.

The Panthers worked a walk and a single in the top of the eighth, but Struckhoff struck out pinch hitter Casey Spears to leave both runners stranded. The Billikens opened with eighth with a walk issued to Jon Guyre, and Crespi moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Sweeney also drew a walk to set the stage for Rodgers' three-run blast to right.

Struckhoff fought off another Panther charge in the top of the ninth to pick up his first win of the season. Jeske fell to 0-1 with the loss as he gave up four runs on three hits in just 2/3-inning of relief. Sweeney was the lone Billiken with multiple hits, while Varrassi had a game-high three hits for EIU.

Saint Louis travels to Springfield, Mo., for a 7 p.m. game against Missouri State on Wed., Mar. 29, before returning home for an Atlantic 10 Conference series against Duquesne this weekend.

College Baseball Linescore R H E Eastern Illinois 002 000 000 2 8 2 Saint Louis 000 000 43x 7 8 2

WP- Struckhoff (1-0). LP- Jeske (0-1) Save - None. Battery - (EIU) Gierich, Jeske (7), Huber (7), Budde (8) and Cobb. (SLU) Bird, Struckhoff (7) and Musselman. 2B - (EIU) Varrassi; (SLU) Sweeney, Z. Moore. HR - (SLU) Rodgers.

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