April 14, 2009

Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. - Saint Louis rallied late to defeat Eastern Illinois 11-10 in extra innings during game one of a non-conference doubleheader at Charleston, Ill. on Tuesday afternoon. In game two, the Billikens (16-22) posted a program-best 17 hits en route to a 19-2 five-inning win over the Panthers (24-16). SLU's 19 runs were the most it had scored since collecting a school-record 23 runs against Florissant Valley in 1982.

Both teams failed to score in the first inning of game one before SLU went up by one in the second. Nicki Jost walked to start the second before being forced out at second on Katie Johns' fielder's choice. But Johns advanced to second on an errant throw by the EIU shortstop and went on to score on Erin Cejka's single to right field for the 1-0 edge. The Billikens added a second run in the third when Jost walk issued a bases-loaded walk that gave her team a 2-0 lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Denee Menzione smacked a two-run into center field to knot the score at 2-2. But the score wouldn't remain tied for long as Kerri Dockins' first home run of her collegiate career, a three-run shot to left field in the fourth, provided Saint Louis with a three-run lead.

However, the lead was short-lived as five Panther hits and two Billiken errors allowed Eastern Illinois to gain the 8-5 lead in the bottom half of the fourth. Hailee Hanna ignited the rally with a solo home run. Megan Nelson added an infield single before SLU recorded its first out. Then Nelson stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on a fielder's choice to cut the margin to one. Sarah Coppert's two-run double made it 6-5 and knocked SLU starter Erin Kelly faced reached on an error to put runners on the corners. Menzione drew a walk to load the bases before Kiley Holtz hit a sacrifice fly and Hanna drove in another run with a single to left for the three-run advantage.

EIU's Melinda Jackson hit a solo home run in the fifth and Coppert had an RBI single to push the lead out to 10-5. But the Billikens came roaring back scoring two runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh to tie the game at 10-10. Kristin Nicoletti's RBI single. In the seventh, three of the first four SLU hitters walked to load the bases. Jones hit a one-out RBI single down the left-field line to start the scoring. Then Dockins drove in a run on a fielder's choice and Nicoletti posted another RBI single to reach the 10-10 stalemate.

Billiken reliever Stacy Gillette retired three straight Panthers in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. With pinch runner Keri O'Keefe on second due to the international tiebreaker, Jost hit a one-out single to left center and moved into scoring position after O'Keefe advanced to third. Johns broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to center field. Eastern Illinois loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth but was unable to score as SLU held on for the win.

Gillette (5-10) struck out three and walked one in 3-1/3 innings of one-hit relief to record the victory. Dockins, Jones and Nicoletti each posted a pair of hits for the Billikens, while Dockins led all players with four RBIs.

Nicoletti started the second game with a bang as she sent a 2-0 offering over the fence in center field for the early lead. Then Rachel Heet drew a one-out walk before Jost singled and Johns was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cejka collected her first two RBIs of the contest on a two-run double to left field. Kelly Flanagan followed with a sacrifice fly to make it four-run margin.

After SLU starter Emma DeKalb retired the first two batters, Menzione drove a single into the gap in right center. Menzione moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Kiley Holtz's singled down the right-field line trimming the deficit to three. But the Billiken offense would not let up in the second as Nicoletti hit a one-out single through the left side and stole second base. Following a pop out, Heet knocked an RBI double into the gap in left center for the 5-1 lead. When stealing third, Eastern Illinois' catcher threw the ball away allowing Heet to score on the error and extend the margin to five.

Saint Louis added four more runs in the third to make it 10-1. Highlights included a solo home run from Cejka to lead off the inning, an RBI single from Rachel O'Connell and a two-run single by Jost. The Panthers got one run back in the bottom half of the inning when Angela Danca hit a leadoff single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. However, the Bills stayed hot at the plate, scoring six more runs to increase their lead to 16-2 in the top of the fourth. Dockins plated the first run with an RBI double before Nicoletti drove in the second run on a fielder's choice. Then Jost hit a two-run double to right center before Cejka walked with the bases loaded and Flanagan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded the bring in the final two runs of the frame.

The Billikens extended their lead to 17 runs with three tallies in the fifth punctuated by a solo blast from Dockins to start the frame. With one out, Johns was a hit by a pitch with the bases jammed before Cejka plated her school-record tying fifth run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center field for the final margin.

DeKalb (2-0) scattered four hits for two runs while walking two and fanning one in the first four innings en route to the win. Offensively, Jost led the way with a 4-for-4 effort at the plate and four RBIs, while Cejka went 3-for-3 with five RBIs. Jost tied the school record for hits in a game, while Nicoletti tied the SLU standard for runs scored in a game with four. As a team, SLU hit three home runs in the nightcap, tying the school record for round-trippers in a game for the third time this season.