April 11, 2008

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - Saint Louis was defeated in both games of an Atlantic 10 Conference baseball doubleheader at Rhode Island's Bill Beck Field on Friday. In game one, the Rams edged SLU 3-1 despite another quality outing by SLU right-hander Ryan Johnson belted an RBI double in the top of the ninth to knot the score at 6-6, but Rhody scored a run in the bottom half of the inning to secure the sweep.

Saint Louis dips to 14-17 overall and 4-7 in the A-10, while Rhode Island improves to 14-19 and 5-6 in the league. The teams were originally scheduled for a single game today, but decided to play game two of the series a day early due to the impending inclement weather poised to reach the Rhode Island tomorrow.

In game two, the Billikens were trailing 6-4 heading into the ninth but managed to claw back in it with runs in the eighth and ninth innings. With two outs in the eighth, J.D. Dunn slugged a solo home run to cut the Billikens' deficit to 7-6. Johnson drove in the tying run in the ninth when doubled to left-center field, driving in Andrew Guerra who reached earlier in the frame on a double down the left-field line.

SLU plated runs in four consecutive innings from the third to the sixth. Tom Pinnell grounded into a double play that scored a run in the third, and Ryan Bennett plated a run when he reached on an error in the fourth. In the fifth, the Billikens again benefited from a URI defensive miscue when Ramee Yacoub scored on an error. Yacoub then drove in David Blackwell in the sixth when he lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.

However, Rhode Island scored five runs over that same stretch off SLU right-hander Dave Sever to open up a 5-4 lead through six innings. Its big inning came in the sixth when they plated three runs on four hits. It was Rob Deveney's double in the bottom of the ninth that delivered the game two victory.

Dunn and Yacoub each had two hits, scored and posted an RBI. Dunn's homer was his second of the year. Sever went 6-1/3 innings and allowed six runs on 13 hits while striking out six. For URI, Deveney had three hits and three RBIs. Tim Boyce picked up the win on the hill for Rhody after pitching two innings.

In the first game, the Rams scored in the first and second innings off Turmail. They plated their run in the first inning on a double-play ball, and scored in the second inning on an RBI groundout.

After allowing a run in the fourth, Turmail settled down and held Rhode Island scoreless the rest of the way. He struck out a career-high eight batters and walked just two, scattering 10 hits and allowing three runs (two earned) in the eight innings.

Runs were hard to come by for Saint Louis in game one, as its lone tally came in the seventh when Casey Moore drove in Blackwell with a sacrifice fly.

In all, the Bills managed seven hits and were plagued by three errors. Yacoub had two hits in the game, as did Greg Rodgers.

The Billikens will look to bounce back for the series finale on Sunday. First pitch at Bill Beck Field is set for 11 a.m. (CT).