April 19, 2008
Box Score
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Saint Louis displayed its resiliency in a 14-10 defeat at St. Bonaventure in Atlantic 10 Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Fred Handler Park. Down 12-4 at the start of the top of the eighth, the Billikens reeled off six runs in the frame to pull within striking distance before eventually falling by four in a game that lasted three hours, 38 minutes. Greg Rodgers had two hits and two RBIs for SLU.
The Billikens dip to 17-19 overall and 5-9 in the A-10 with the loss, while St. Bonaventure improves to 18-14 and 8-6 in the league.
Saint Louis, which had at least one hit from each starter en route to out-hitting the Bonnies 14-12, went through three SBU pitchers in scoring six runs on seven hits in the eighth. J.D. Dunn led off the frame with a single, then was pinch-ran for by Zach Outman. Mike Beal, who continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Rodgers then drove them both home a double to the left-center field gap to cut the Bonnies' lead in half at 12-6.
With one out, Tom Pinnell singled in Rodgers to bring up Casey Moore who also singled. Then, Brandon Parsons ripped a double to left center to plate Pinnell and make the score 12-8. Ramee Yacoub extended his eight-game hitting streak with a poke to right field to score Moore. The Billikens then pulled to within two at 12-10 when Parson trotted home on a wild pitch by the SBU hurler. But that is as close as the Bills would get as St. Bonaventure reclaimed command with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The Bonnies scored a pair of quick runs off SLU starter Dave Sever (2-5) in the first inning. Moley drove in Suminski on an RBI single, and Moley came around to score on a Randich's single after stealing second.
The Bills plated their first run in the bottom of the second. Beal started the frame with a walk, then advanced to third on a Rodgers double. Andrew Guerra, who kept alive a seven-game hitting streak with a single in the sixth, plated Beal with a sacrifice fly to pull the Billikens to within one at 2-1.
Sever shut down the Bonnies over the next three innings, and SLU took the lead in the fifth. Moore and Brandon Parsons singled, and Moore later scored on a defensive lapse by St. Bonaventure. Ryan Bennett drove in Parsons on a sac fly to make it 3-2 Billikens. Later in the inning, Dunn ripped a double that snuck just inside the third-base bag to plate Yacoub and put the SLU up 4-2 through four-and-a-half innings.
But the explosive Bonnies offense, which ranks as one of the elite in the Atlantic 10, would go on to score five runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to build a lead it would not relinquish.
Dunn, Beal, Rodgers, Moore and Parsons all had two hits apiece for SLU. In addition to everyone in the starting lineup recording a hit, they all accounted for a run via either an RBI or run scored.
The Bonnies evened the series after SLU claimed the opener Friday. The rubber match of the three-game set will start an hour earlier than originally scheduled at 10 a.m. (CT) Sunday. Outman is slated to get the start on the mound for Saint Louis, while Cody Vincent is scheduled to go for the Bonnies.
