March 12, 2008
Box Score
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis topped Fontbonne 6-2 this afternoon in its home opener at The Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens (4-7) got five shutout innings from starter B.J. Rodrigue (Destrehan, La.) to secure their second victory in as many days. Mike Beal (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH), David Blackwell (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Andrew Guerra (Dallas, Texas/Rice) all drove in runs for SLU.
With Rodrigue in command on the hill, Saint Louis went to work in the bottom of the first thanks in part to some Fontbonne (0-1) defensive miscues. J.D. Dunn (Franklin, Tenn./Centennial) reached on an error to start the game, and ultimately came around to score when Beal reached on an error by the third baseman. Greg Rodgers (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell), who had walked earlier in the inning, scored on an errant throw by the Griffins shortstop to make it 2-0 Billikens through one inning of play.
After a scoreless second inning for both sides, the Billikens made it 3-0 in the third with a two-out rally. Blackwell singled up the middle, and circled the bases on Guerra's double to left field.
Meanwhile, Rodrigue was solid in his first start of the year on the mound. After allowing a leadoff single to Fontbonne's Blake Tolan, he settled down and retired the next nine hitters he faced. He hit a batter in the fourth, but later picked him off first. In the fifth, he got into a jam after a double and a pair of errors, but he got a bases-loaded groundout to erase the threat.
Fontbonne cracked the scoreboard in the seventh on a Dan Horn single, but the Billikens got that run back in the bottom half of the inning when Blackwell reached on an error to score Dunn, who earlier in the inning singled and stole a base. The Billikens plated two more runs in the bottom of the eighth when they accumulated four walks and took advantage of three Fontbonne wild pitches and an error on a pick-off attempt.
The Griffins, who were playing their first game of the year after having their first eight games canceled due to inclement weather, plated a run in the ninth but then stranded the bases loaded for the 6-2 final.
In all, Rodrigue went five innings and allowed just two hits while striking out two and walking none. Brad Perkins (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville) saw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and Scott Turmail (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) came on in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and two down and retired the only hitter he faced for his first save of the year.
Guerra had a pair of hits for SLU, while Tolan, Josh Burlison and Nick Higgs all had two hits for Fontbonne. Freshman Mike Corrigan, who got his first career start behind the plate, had his first career hit in the fourth and also walked and scored. Overall, the Griffins out-hit the Billikens 8-6, but committed six errors and three wild pitches on the afternoon.
Tomorrow, the Billikens travel to Bradenton, Fla., where it will spend the next week playing at the IMG Academy. SLU's first game in Florida is against IPFW on Friday morning. First pitch is slated for 9 a.m. (CT).
