April 3, 2007

Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. - Saint Louis senior catcher Bill Musselman prevented a no-hitter, but the Billikens fell 5-1 at Bradley this afternoon. The Braves (13-10) posted 10 hits, while Billiken starter Brock Hewitt recorded a career-high seven strikeouts in 5-2/3 innings of work. Musselman's infield single came in the eighth inning to break up the Braves' no-hitter, and SLU pushed its lone run across in the ninth on a pair of walks and a Bradley error.

The Braves broke through in the third inning when Paul Rice, who drove in the first three runs of the game, doubled in Brad Jones after he had reached on an error. Rice made it a 3-0 lead with a two-out, two-run double in the fourth inning. The Braves plated another run in the sixth, courtesy of a Billiken error on Rice's ground ball with runners on the corners. Hewitt turned the game over to Dan Cowsert, who got out of the inning with a pop-up. Ryan Curry added a solo home run in the seventh.

After Rice robbed Blake Bratcher in the top of the fourth, the Billikens recorded their first hit of the game in the eighth. The Billiken catcher legged out a two-hopper in the hole on the left side by a half-step, ending the Braves' bid for a no-hitter. An error put Ryan Bennett on base, but BU reliever Eitan Barbalat came in to record a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning.

SLU ended the shutout in the ninth when Bratcher and Greg Rodgers drew back-to-back walks from Luke Etchison. Casey Moore drove a ground ball to the hole on the left side, where Rice made a diving stop but made an errant throw, allowing pinch runner L.J. Watson to score from second. With runners on the corners and one out, the Braves again went to the bullpen, this time bringing in Tyler Thornton, who ended the threat with a strikeout and a ground out.

BU starter Jon Goebel earned his first career victory as he threw struck out five in five hitless innings to improve to 1-1 on the season. Hewitt fell to 0-6 as he saw four runs, two earned, score on seven hits in his 5-2/3 innings. Rice led all hitters with three RBI.

The Billikens face their first Atlantic 10 Conference road games this weekend, traveling to La Salle for a three-game series beginning on Fri., Apr. 5, at 2 p.m. (CT).