March 13, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis out-hit Bradley 11-10 but saw a five-run eighth inning deliver a 5-2 loss to the Braves this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens (1-14) committed a pair of costly errors in the inning, spoiling the start of senior right-hander Eric Rohr and the four-hit outing of sophomore Tom Pinnell.

The Billikens went to work right away with Pinnell leading off the first with a single to left. After a sacrifice and a single moved him to third, he scored on Casey Moore's double just inside the left field line. Following the early score, both teams struggled to put together much offense. Rohr controlled the Braves, allowing just one hit per inning over the next six. The Billikens suffered a similar fate against BU's Tyler Thornton.

In the eighth, Rohr got Brad Jones to slap a ground ball to second, but an error let Jones stay on first. Another ground ball moved Jones to second, and Rohr intentionally walked Dan Brewer, Rohr's lone free pass of the day, to set up a double play. Ryan Curry roped a single to left, however, loading the bases with just one out. The Billikens went to sophomore left-hander Mark Zielinski to replace Rohr, and the reliever got Mike McMillan to foul out to Greg Rodgers on the first base line. Bradley brought in pinch hitter Peter Malinowski, who worked the count full before smacking a single through the right side. With the runners on the move, two came home for a 2-1 lead. Zielinski appeared to be out of the inning with minimal damage when Ryan Eigsti sent a ground ball to third, but another Billiken error brought to more runs in. Colby Luttrell plated the final run of the frame with a ringing double to left center before Chris Paulson came in to close out the inning.

SLU looked to answer right away with Rodgers leading off the bottom of the eighth with a triple to the base of the wall in right center. Blake Bratcher cut the deficit to 5-2 with a one-out double to left, but Thornton regrouped to retire the side. After Paulson worked around a leadoff double in the top of the ninth, Pinnell tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning with a two-out double down the right field line. Thornton got Ryan Crespi to pop up and end the threat.

Pinnell led all hitters with four hits, including a double, while Rodgers added three hits. Rohr fanned five Braves and scattered seven hits in 7-1/3 innings of work. None of his runs were earned. Thornton worked around 11 hits and struck out two in the complete-game victory.

Saint Louis heads to Missouri for a 6:30 p.m. game on Wed., March 14, before hosting Illinois State in a three-game weekend series, beginning at 2 p.m. on Fri., March 16.