Feb. 23, 2007

Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. - Central Arkansas took advantage of Saint Louis pitching mistakes in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally from a one-run deficit and claim a 6-4 win over the Billikens on Friday afternoon in Conway, Ark.

Central Arkansas (2-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after putting the first two runners on courtesy of a bunt single and a Billiken fielding error. Both runners got into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before SLU starting pitcher Dave Sever (Burr Ridge, Ill./Benet Academy) hit the cleanup batter to load the bases. Then first baseman Grant Gatlin stepped to the plate and smashed a two-run single through the right side for the early lead.

Saint Louis (0-4) evened the score in the top of the fourth after UCA starter Daniel Price retired the side in each of the first three innings. Leadoff batter Ryan Crespi (Sparta, N.J./Sussex County CC) singled up the middle and stole second base to start the Billiken rally. Gilbert Marlowe (Glendale, Mo./Southwestern Illinois) followed with a single up the middle to plate SLU's first run of the game. Marlowe advanced to second base on the throw to the plate, but he wasn't there for long as he moved to third on a groundout and scored on Greg Rodgers' (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles CC) sacrifice fly to centerfield.

In the bottom of the fifth the Cardinals added another run to regain the lead. Tye Throneberry reached on a leadoff walk. Kevin Rawls then singled through the left side and both players got into scoring position after advancing on the throw to the infield. After a fly out, Sever hit his second batter of the game to load the bases. A Billiken fielding error helped Central Arkansas take a one-run lead heading into the sixth.

Consecutive Central Arkansas errors proved costly in the top of the sixth as the Bills added two runs for the 4-3 lead. With one out, Marlowe reached on an error and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Bill Musselman's (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic) doubled to centerfield briefly knotted the score at 3-3. Rodgers then earned his second RBI of the game as he brought Musselman home with a single through the right side.

Things were working to Saint Louis' favor until the bottom of the eighth when UCA took advantage of mistakes by the SLU pitching staff. Billiken reliever Brock Hewitt (Boerne, Texas/Trinity) sat down the first two Cardinals before hitting the third batter of the inning and allowing a single to put runners on the corners. Hewitt was then lifted in favor of Mark Zielinski (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet). But Zielinski was unable to contain the Central Arkansas bats as he surrendered an RBI single to the first batter he faced. Bob Hughes called up B.J. Rodrigue (Destrehan, La./Brother Martin) to stop the rally. Rodrigue got the final out after walking in the Cardinals' sixth run but UCA's Bobby Pritchett retired the side in the ninth to squash SLU's hopes of a dramatic comeback.

Six Billikens had one hit apiece, while Rodgers led the way with two RBI. Central Arkansas' Rawls went three-for-four at the plate. Davis and Gatlin added two RBI apiece.

Hewitt (0-2) took the loss for the Bills, who are still looking for their first win this season. He allowed two runs and two hits in two innings of work. Pritchett earned the `W', striking out two Billikens in 2.1 innings.

The two teams play twice more this weekend, squaring off at 1 p.m. on both Sat., Feb. 24, and Sun., Feb. 25.