April 7, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The offense continued to shine as Saint Louis soared past Saint Joseph's 13-3 in Atlantic 10 baseball action this afternoon at Elmwood Park. The Billikens (16-12, 5-2 A-10) were hot at the plate right away, scoring two runs in the first inning. Junior Casey Moore put up the team's gaudiest numbers, driving in five runs on three hits, including his third home run of the season and second in as many games this week. Freshman Tom Pinnell and junior Jerry Vickery drove in three runs apiece to back the complete-game outing of freshman Dave Sever on the mound.

The Billikens tallied first in the top of the first when Jon Guyre led off with a single to left center. After moving to second on a wild pitch, he continued to advance when SJU starter Bob Unkel walked both Johnny Sweeney and Greg Rodgers to load the bases. Gilbert Marlowe plated Guyre with a single to left, and Sweeney came home on Moore's ground ball to short.

The Hawks cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third off a lead-off triple from Chris Cashman and a sacrifice fly from Adriano Petrutz. SLU took the run right back in the to of the fourth, however, on Pinnell's RBI double to score Ziggy Moore from second base.

A four-run fifth inning blew things open for the Billikens as Sever continued to roll through the Saint Joe's lineup. Sweeney ripped a one-out double to center and moved to third on a wild pitch on strike three to Rodgers, who also reached first on the play. After Marlowe walked to load the bases, Casey put an RBI single through the left side. Ziggy drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to make it a 5-1 game, and Pinnell drove in two more runs with a single to left, which sent the Hawks to the bullpen for Joel Grimshaw to close out the inning.

The Bills added three more runs on three hits in the top of the fifth, including Casey's three-run home run to left field. Both pitchers cruised through the next two innings, but the Billikens tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth on Justin Trudell. A single from Guyre and walks to pinch hitter Mark Hankes and Neil Graser set up Vickery's pinch-hit three-run double down the left field line. In the longest outing of his young career, Sever labored slightly in the bottom of the frame, yielding a pair of runs on three hits before closing out the victory.

Sever improved to 3-2 on the season as he struck out four in his first nine-inning outing. Unkel struck out seven Billikens but took the loss for SJU, falling to 2-3 after yielding seven runs on 10 hits in 4-2/3 innings. Guyre, Sweeney and Pinnell joines Casey with three hits apiece, while Cashman matched them with three hits for the Hawks.

The teams are scheduled to meet again on Sat., Apr. 8, at noon (CT).