May 6, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - After sweeping Saturday's doubleheader, Saint Louis saw Saint Joseph's squeeze out a 3-2 victory in the Atlantic 10 series finale at The Billiken Sports Center this afternoon. Senior Casey Moore recorded a pair of hits for the Billikens (13-34, 9-11 A-10), but it was not enough as the Hawks took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh then made a series of solid defensive plays down the stretch to collect the win.

The game looked like a pitchers' duel early before a leadoff walk and a David Valesente RBI single through the left side put the Hawks up 1-0 in the third. SLU starter Dave Sever was dealing through the early innings, though, and finally saw his offense take the lead in the bottom of the fourth.

B.J. Rodrigue opened with a single to right but was erased with the second out of the inning on J.D. Dunn's fielder's choice. After Dunn stole second and was awarded third on a balk, he tied the game on Ziggy Moore's double to shallow center field. Ryan Crespi followed with a single to center top plate Moore with the go-ahead run before SJU starter Mark Dolaghan got Tom Pinnell to ground out to end the inning.

Sever worked around trouble in the top of the fifth after Tim Smith led off the inning with a double and was sacrificed to third. A called strike three and a fly ball to right kept the Billikens in front. The Hawks opened the sixth with a pair of singles, including a leadoff shot from Ben Wendle that caromed off Sever's right ankle. The sophomore hurler looked gimpy after the play, but powered through the inning, getting a double-play ball off the bat of Mike Gentile and a ground out from Jeremy Jakubowski.

The Billikens looked to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth on Ryan Johnson's one-out double to right center. The Hawks brought left-hander Mark Imbo in from the bullpen to face the left-handed hitting Dunn. Imbo uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Johnson to get to third before Dunn lifted a fly ball to left, but Johnson was held at third to keep the Billikens' lead at 2-1.

In the seventh, a one-out walk issued to Smith was compounded by a double down the right field line from Ken Pustizzi. Adriano Petrutz knotted the game a 2-2 with an RBI ground out, and Valesente put the Hawks back on top with an RBI single through the right side. The Billikens went to the bullpen, and Dan Cowsert held the deficit at 3-2 with a fly ball that Crespi tracked back to the wall in center field.

SLU went quietly in the bottom of the seventh and eighth, and Cowsert retired the Hawks in order in the top of the ninth after leaving a pair of runners stranded in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the ninth, Johnson again tried to get things going for the Bills but was robbed of a sure double by Smith, who made a diving catch in center field. Ziggy Moore's drew a two-out walk to put the tying run on base, but Imbo closed out the win with a line drive.

Imbo improved to 2-4 on the season as he held the Billikens hitless in 3-2/3 innings of relief. Sever took the loss as he allowed three runs on eight hits and struck out five in 6-2/3 innings. Valesente drove in a game-high two runs on a pair of hits for the Hawks.

The Billikens take the week off for exams before traveling to Massachusetts for a three-game A-10 series against the Minutemen, which begins at 2 p.m. (CT) on Fri., May 11.