March 14, 2008

Box Score

BRADENTON, Fla. - Senior first baseman Greg Rodgers (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) ripped a two-run double in the seventh inning to help Saint Louis to a 5-2 victory against IPFW Friday. The Billikens benefited from a strong outing by right-hander Dave Sever (Burr Ridge, Ill./Benet), who picked up the win in relief of SLU starter Zach Outman (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh).

The Mastodons went on top first with a run in the second, but SLU (5-7) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore David Blackwell (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) laced a single, and ended up advancing to third on back-to-back errors by the IPFW pitcher.

Andrew Guerra (Dallas, Texas/Rice) drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Brandon Parsons (Stow, Ohio/Stow Munroe Falls) lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right-field to advance both runners, including Blackwell who trotted home to knot the score at 1-1. The Billikens then took the lead when Casey Moore (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Holt) singled in Guerra, making it 2-1 Billikens through four innings of play.

IPFW tied the score at 2-2 with a run in the seventh, but the Billikens plated three runs in the bottom-half of the inning to take command. J.D. Dunn (Franklin, Tenn./Centennial) led off with a walk, then Tom Pinnell (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) reached when his short blooper bounded off the shortstop's glove.

With runners on first and third, Rodgers broke the tie when he ripped a double to the left-center field gap, plating Dunn and Pinnell and putting the Bills up 4-2. For good measure, Mike Beal (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH) drove in Rodgers with a double of his own, securing the final 5-2 margin for the Billikens.

Sever got his first win of the year - and got Outman off the hook - after 2-2/2 innings of one-hit ball. He struck out three and walked none. Outman went 6-1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out two.

Offensively, Beal was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Pinnell also turned in a 2-for-4 afternoon. Dunn was 1-for-3 with a double.

Saint Louis has now won three straight games for the first time since it won its first three games of the 2006 A-10 Tournament, which it won resulting in an NCAA Regional appearance.

The Billikens, who are in the midst of a six-day, five-game stay in Florida, face Dartmouth tomorrow on the IMG campus. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. (CT).

IPFW         010 000 100 - 2 5 3
Saint Louis  000 200 30X - 5 9 1
WP: Dave Sever
LP: Sam Walker
HRs: None