Feb. 25, 2009

Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Saint Louis' Nicki Jost homered to move into a tie for third place on the career home run chart (10), and extended her hitting streak to seven games, but that was about the only bright spot for the softball team (3-8) on Wednesday as it suffered a doubleheader sweep at No. 12/14 Missouri by scores of 12-0 and 7-2 in Columbia, Mo.

In the opener, the Tigers (10-0) jumped all over SLU starter Erin Kelly (2-2) with two outs in the bottom of the first. Consecutive singles put runners on the corners for Missouri, which then pulled off the double steal to put the first run on the board. Gina Schneider's RBI single to right field made it 2-0 before Kelly then issued three straight walks to push the third run across.

Jost started the second inning with a double to left field, the Billikens' first hit of the game. She advanced to third on a ground out but was picked off the bag for the second out. Tiger starter Chelsea Thomas (5-0) fanned the ensuing batter to retreat to the dugout.

MU added four runs on three hits, three walks and a sacrifice fly in the second. Andee Allen reached on a one-out single and Kelly walked the next batter. After Kelly was relieved by Kelcie Matesa, an Ashley Fleming single loaded the bases. Then Schneider knocked a two-run single into the gap in right center to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead. Missouri executed the double steal for the second time in the game to plate another run. Another free pass was issued to load the bases for Megan Christopher, who came through with a sacrifice fly to increase her team's lead to 7-0.

The Tigers added three more runs to their total in the third and two in the fourth to make it a 12-run game. Thomas walked two Billikens with one out in the top of the fifth but SLU was unable to capitalize on the situation as the next two batters went down in order to end the game.

Kelly suffered the loss after allowing five runs on four hits and four walks in 1-1/3 innings while fanning two. Matesa gave up seven runs on six hits and seven walks while striking out one in 2-2/3 frames. Caitlin Trevillyan had the only other Billiken hit in the opener.

Keri O'Keefe collected the first hit of the nightcap for either team, when she reached on an infield single with one out in the third. However, she remained stranded as the next two Billiken hitters flew out and lined out, respectively. Missouri tallied its first hit of the game when Katie Milles hit a leadoff single to right field in the bottom of the third. A ground out pushed pinch runner Lisa Simmons over to third before Shana White singled to left field to put runners on the corners. Julie Silver's ground out to second base scored Simmons to give the Tigers the 1-0 edge.

SLU's Liz Jones triggered a small rally in the fourth with a leadoff single to right center. With one out, Jost sent a pitch over the fence in left field to give the Bills a 2-1 lead, which chased Missouri starter Stacy Delaney (1-0) from the game. However, the lead was short-lived as the Tigers came right back with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to regain the lead at 4-2.

Kristin Nicoletti got her first hit of the day, a leadoff single off Mizzou reliever Jana Hainey in the top of the sixth. After stealing second base, she advanced to third on Jones' fly out to right field. Then Rachel Heet was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners but the Billikens could not come up with anything as Hainey struck out the next batter and induced an infield pop out to escape the jam. Missouri added three runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run homer by Allen and Jaydee Young's RBI double for the final 7-2 margin.

Billiken starter Stacy Gillette (1-3) held her own in the nightcap but still was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out two in five innings. Kelly, who came on in relief in the sixth, struck out three but gave up two runs on three hits in an inning of work. SLU's four hits came from four different players, while Jost led the club with two RBIs. She now has 55 RBIs in her career, which ties for eighth all time.