March 29, 2006

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State scored at least one run in all but one inning en route to a 10-2 victory over Saint Louis Wednesday night. The Bears (12-9) out-hit the Billikens 17-4, including four triples. Ryan Crespi and Johnny Sweeney picked up the RBIs for SLU (11-11).

The Bears took advantage of a one-out walk in the bottom of the first when Tim Rafferty's triple gave them an early 1-0 lead against SLU starter Lance Rhodes. A leadoff single and another triple, this one from Nolan Keane pushed the lead to 2-0, and Chris Taylor made it 3-0 with an RBI single before Rhodes closed out the second inning with a fly out. Rhodes worked around an error and a pair of walks to keep the Bears off the board in the third, but MSU put up one more run on a pair of two-out singles in the fourth.

The Billikens looked to end the shutout with a pair of base runners in the fifth, but MSU starter Jake Shafer left them both stranded. After two more runs made it a 6-0 deficit through five innings, the Billikens cracked the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. After Ryan Crespi recorded SLU's first hit of the night with a triple to center. Johnny Sweeney plated Crespi with a ground ball. The Billikens looked for more when Greg Rodgers singled, but reliever Matt Frevert closed out the inning.

Missouri State used a pair of hits and a walk to score a run on reliever Corey Tyberendt in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-2 margin. Back-to-back triples from Jacob Hilgendorf and Matt Lawson and a Tanner Mattson sacrifice fly opened the seventh for MSU, giving the Bears a 9-2 lead heading into the final two frames.

Pinch hitter Mark Hankes led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on Tim Landy's two-out single. Frevert recorded his seventh strikeout of the night to keep the Bills off the board. Chris Taylor wrapped up the scoring for the Bears in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single. The Billikens put two runners on in the top of the ninth, but could not chip away at the deficit.

Shafer improved to 1-1 with the victory as he struck out six and allowed two runs on two hits in 5-1/3 innings of work. Rhodes took the loss in his first decision of the season, yielding six runs on 10 hits and striking out three in five innings on the mound. MSU' Brayden Drake led all hitters with a perfect 4-for-4 night.

The Billikens return to action this weekend when Atlantic 10 Conference foe Duquesne visits The Billiken Sports Center for a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. on Fri., Mar. 31.