April 15, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Junior B.J. Rodrigue provided the ninth-inning heroics, but senior Bill Musselman delivered the power with a pair of home runs to drive Saint Louis to a 7-6 win over St. Bonaventure in the second game of a doubleheader today at The Billiken Sports Center. The Bonnies claimed game one 9-4 after holding off a late Billiken rally. Musselman was 5-of-8, including a double and two home runs, with five RBI over the two games.

Saint Louis fell behind early in the game two as starter Ryan Bird saw the Bonnies' offense pick up right where it left off in game one. A leadoff single, back-to-back doubles and a Matt Mardeusz home run in the first inning put the senior right-hander in an early 4-0 hole. Kieran Malone and Brandon Salerno doubled in the fourth inning for a 5-0 lead, and Salerno made it a 6-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

After breaking through with a pair of hits in the bottom of the fifth, the Billikens finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. Greg Rodgers led off with a walk and moved to second on Casey Moore's single to center. The Bonnies went to the bullpen for their third pitcher of the game, and Jim Britton got Blake Bratcher to pop up for the first out. Musselman battled the right-hander, however, and eventually sent a shot over the left field wall that rattled around the bleachers for the softball field 10 yards beyond the left field fence. The three-run dinger was the first of the season for the senior catcher and cut the St. Bona lead in half.

Ziggy Moore led off the home half of the seventh with a triple to the base of the wall in left center and came home when freshman L.J. Watson lined a double just inside the left field line. Another call to the bullpen brought in St. Bona's fourth pitcher, Eddie Williams, who prevented a Billiken rally with a ground ball and a strikeout.

While SLU reliever B.J. Rodrigue with a pitch, and the Bonnies called on Josh Perkins to preserve the tie, which he did by retiring three of the next four hitters.

St. Bonaventure looked to reclaim its lead in the ninth with Kevin Suminski slipping a single through the left side. The Billikens turned to their regular Sunday starter Dave Sever to work in relief for the second time, and the sophomore right-hander forced the Bonnies to leave two men on base, setting the stage for SLU's ninth-inning victory.

Casey Moore's drove a one-out single through the right side but was eliminated on Bratcher's ground ball. The Bonnies' second baseman, Kieran Malone, saw his relay for a double play sail past Josh Sova at first, allowing Bratcher to get to second. Perkins intentionally walked Musselman to face Rodrigue with the game on the line. The junior third baseman battled Perkins before finding a pitch he could drive and unloaded for a double to left center to plate Bratcher with the winning run.

Sever collected the win for SLU to improve to 3-4 on the season, while Perkins fell to 0-2. Cowsert matched his career high with three strikeouts in his 2-1/3 innings of solid relief.

In game one, the Bonnies chipped away at SLU starter Eric Rohr early before breaking the game open with a four-run seventh inning. St. Bona took the lead in the top of the second on Randy Moley's RBI single, but the Billikens answered in the bottom of the frame with Rodrigue smacking a two-out single down the left field line.

Joe Rizzo made it a 3-0 St. Bona lead with a two-run home run over the scoreboard in right field in the top of the fourth. The seventh got off to an auspicious start with Malone joining the home run club with a shot over the wall in center field to lead off the inning. Suminski singled, and Sova walked to put two on for 2006 A-10 Player of the Year Brian Pellegrini, who drove the first of his two home runs to left field for a 7-0 margin.

Bratcher got things going in the bottom of the seventh with a double to left center and moved to third on Musselman's single through the left side. Rodrigue picked up the RBI with a fielder's choice, cutting the lead to 7-1. The Billikens added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth when Crespi ripped a one-out triple to center and Rodgers drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Britton replaced SBU starter Cody Vincent and saw Casey Moore's smack a double down the left field line that almost erased Crespi at third. Bratcher plated pinch runner Gilbert Marlowe from third on a ground ball to cut the Billikens' deficit to 7-3, before Britton got help from his shortstop, who robbed Musselman on a line drive to end the inning. Pellegrini's two-run home run to left center in the ninth closed out the scoring for the Bonnies in game one.

Rohr suffered the loss for SLU, falling to 3-4 on the season, as he yielded seven runs on nine hits in 6-1/3 innings, despite recording seven strikeouts, one short of his career high. Vincent improved his record to 2-4 on the year, matching Rohr's strikeout total while holding the Billikens to four runs on eight hits in 7-1/3. In addition to Musselman's prolific hitting, Casey Moore's added a pair of hits in each game, including two doubles in game one.

The Billikens play their final April home game on Wed., April 18, at 3 p.m. against Eastern Illinois. SLU embarks on a seven-game road swing, beginning at Fordham on Fri., April 20.