March 18, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis saw its sweep of Illinois State erased with a five-run ninth inning that delivered a 6-1 win for the Redbirds this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens (3-16) managed just one run on four hits in the outing, but senior right-hander Brock Hewitt held ISU in check through eight innings to keep SLU in the game. The Redbirds (8-9) strung together four hits and forced a Billiken error in the decisive ninth inning to pick up their first win of the series.

Illinois State took an early 1-0 lead on three singles in the first inning. Kevin Dubler's shot to right field plated leadoff hitter Collin Salzenstein before Hewitt closed out the frame with a strikeout and a ground ball. Pitching and defense dominated the next four innings until the Billikens knotted things up in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Crespi was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a balk and came home on Bill Musselman's single between the third baseman and shortstop. Musselman swiped second to get in position for the go-ahead run, but ISU starter Luke Baughman got out of the inning with a strikeout and a ground ball.

SLU threatened in the bottom of the seventh when Crespi drove a two-out double to left. The Redbirds intentionally walked Musselman, and Baughman got pinch hitter Gilbert Marlowe to strike out to end the inning. The ISU offense went to work quickly in the top of the eighth, Pinch hitter Nick Crist slapped a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A ground ball from Matt Bolg moved pinch runner Mike Tokarski to third with two outs. After falling behind in the count, Hewitt intentionally walked Ryan Anetsberger, Hewitt's lone free pass of the game. First baseman Greg Rodgers saved the day when he snagged a laser off the bat of Dubler to end the inning.

After the Billikens went quietly in the bottom of the eighth, Hewitt turned the game over to Chris Paulson. The sophomore right-hander got off to an unlucky start as he hit leadoff man Jesse Griswold then saw Bolt's sacrifice bunt attempt roll up the third base line but not curl foul. A balk put both runners in scoring position. Kyle O'Brien slapped a ground ball to the right side where Billiken second baseman Tom Pinnell was charging and had the ball short hop past him to plate the go-ahead run. Kyle Cherney made it a 3-1 game with a sacrifice fly, and Bolt pushed the lead to 4-1 with a sacrifice fly as well. An error brought home another run, and Griswold picked up the final RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Redbird reliever Dan Sorce picked up the win with two innings of one-hit relief, while Paulson took the loss in his first decision of the season. Salzenstein and Anetsberger each posted a game-high two hits.

Saint Louis continues its three-game homestand on Tue., March 20, with a 2 p.m. game against UT Martin.