Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. - Jerry Mancuso tied the school record with five hits and Jon Myers matched the school mark with five runs scored as the Billikens posted a 13-6 victory against Central Arkansas Saturday in the second game of a three-game series.

With the win, the Billikens improve to 3-2 on the year, while Central Arkansas dips to 2-3. The series will be decided tomorrow when the two teams square of at 1 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field.

Mancuso ended up 5-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI. He tied the school record for hits, set nine other times most recently by Adam Shea in 1999. Myers was 2-for-3 with five runs scored and two RBIs. His five runs tied a record accomplished two other times, most recently by Eric Koettker in 1996.

Redshirt freshman Alex Alemann earned his first career win on the mound after pitching six innings and allowing two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked three.

After a scoreless first inning, SLU got on the board first with three runs in the top of the second. Myers led off the inning with a walk, then advanced to second when Steve Fernandez was hit by a pitch. Then, with one out, freshman Mike Levine stroked a double to center to plate both runners and put SLU on top 2-0. It was the first RBIs of Levine's career. Later in the inning, Levine scored on a Mancuso RBI single to make it 3-0 Billikens.

Central Arkansas took advantage of two defensive miscues and got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second, but SLU scored two more times in the top of the third to stretch out to a 5-1 lead. Myers was hit by a pitch, and Fernandez walked. Andrew Guerra then ripped a single to left to plate Myers. Fernandez eventually found himself on third base after a passed ball, and he trotted home on a Levin sacrifice fly.

The Billikens' offensive barrage continued into the fourth where the Bills registered back-to-back homers. Mancuso and Danny Brock, who blasted a three-run home run to right. It was his second round-tripper of the season. Myers followed with a solo shot to right, his first of the season, to put the Billikens up 9-1 after four.

Central Arkansas plated a run in the fifth, but the Billikens answered in the sixth. Myers drew a two-out walk, and advanced to third when Fernandez doubled to left center. Myers came around to score on a Guerra infield single to make it 10-2 Billikens.

The Bears would not go down quietly. They scored twice in the sixth and seventh innings, but an RBI single by Ben Braaten in the top of the seventh kept the Billikens ahead by a score of 11-6 after seven innings.

SLU plated another run in the eight on a Dunn sacrifice fly, and Myers cracked his second homer of the game in the top of the ninth to make it 13-6 Billikens. Meanwhile, Billiken left-handed reliever Andrew Buckham got SLU out of a jam in the eighth. He entered the game with runners on first and second with nobody out and got a double-play ball on his first pitch. He then struck out the final batter he faced to keep the Bears off the board.

Freshman Andres Wiltz came on in the ninth and did not allow a hit as the Billikens secured the 13-6 victory.

BILLIKEN EXTRAS: Andrew Guerra hit two in last year's season opener at CSU Bakersfield ... Andrew Guerra and Connor Gandossy turned the trick against North Dakota. Coincidentally, just like today, all three scenarios had the first homer as a three-run shot.