May 24, 2006

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Saint Louis junior Ryan Bird powered the Billikens to a 3-1 victory over Charlotte in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Houlihan Park, allowing the 49ers just three singles on the afternoon. The Billikens (29-26) tallied an unearned run in the first inning and tacked on two more in the fourth, then let Bird finish off the 49ers as he did not allow a hit or a base runner after the fourth inning.

Jon Guyre opened the game with a single up the middle, moved to second on Johnny Sweeney's ground ball to the left side and took third on a wild pitch. With a full count on DH Greg Rodgers, Charlotte starter Derek McDaid induced a fly ball to shallow right center, where three players converged only to see the ball pop out of the glove of center fielder Chris Lane and Guyre cross the plate for a 1-0 lead.

The 49ers opened the third with a single through the left side from Lane, but Ryan Bird rolled through the next three hitters to hold the advantage. Sweeney kicked off the top of the fourth with a bunt single and moved to third when Rodgers' fly ball to right center fell just beyond the grasp of Lane. Musselman made it a 2-0 decision with a single through the left side. Gilbert Marlowe sacrificed the two runners over, and Tim Landy put the Bills up 3-0 with a fly ball to right field, just beyond the diving Spencer Steedley. With runners still on the corners, McDaid got a double play to limit the damage.

Charlotte broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Corey Lane lined one past Bird's head up the middle, and O'Brien Taylor followed with an infield single. A ground out moved both runners up, and Steedley's fly ball to deep right cut the Billiken lead to 3-1. With a runner on third, Chris Rochelle sent a shot to third, where B.J. Rodrigue dove to make the play and throw him out at first to end the inning.

After the fourth inning, pitching and defense took over as the teams managed just one hit, a Musselman single to center field, over the next four innings. The Billikens had three other base runners, thanks to an error and a pair of walks, but the 49ers stayed within striking distance. Bird was in complete control late, recording six of his eight strikeouts over the final five innings, including the first out of the ninth. After issuing a walk to Taylor, he induced a double-play ball to end the game.

Bird improved to 7-5 with the win, allowing a season-low three hits against the A-10's top-hitting team. McDaid fell to 9-4 on the season, yielding two earned runs on six hits over 7-1/3 innings. Neither team recorded an extra-base hit in the outing, and Musselman was the only player to record multiple hits in the contest.

Saint Louis advances to the second round to face regular-season champion Rhode Island in an 11 a.m. (CT) game on Thu., May 25.