April 1, 2010
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
CAMDEN, N.J. - Saint Louis redshirt freshman Alex Alemann tossed the first complete game of his career in a 7-3 Billiken victory against Saint Joseph's Thursday in the nightcap of an Atlantic 10 Conference doubleheader at Campbell's Field. SJU took game one 17-8.
Saint Louis is now 15-13 overall and 3-2 in A-10 play, while Saint Joseph's moves to 7-13 and 3-2 in the A-10. The two teams will decide the series tomorrow in a 6 p.m. (CT) first pitch at Campbell's Field.
Alemann earned his second win in a row against an A-10 opponent. His nine innings pitched in game two is a career high, and he also tied his career best with eight strikeouts. Alemann (3-2) allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits while walking just one. He was especially strong late, allowing no runs and just two hits over the final four innings.
Offensively, sophomore Lucas Calderon paced the Billikens with three RBIs on three hits. Senior center fielder J.D. Dunn had three hits, including a solo home run, and scored four times. Junior left fielder Cody Cotter and freshman shortstop Mike Levine also registered RBIs for SLU.
In game one, senior right-hander Bryant Cotton's bid to increase his A-10 leading win total fell short as SJU tagged the Billiken pitching staff with 17 hits and 23 hits. Both of those totals are season highs yielded by the Bills.
SLU did manage 16 hits in game one, which was one off its season high. Sophomore right fielder Danny Brock went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while redshirt freshman designated hitter Steve Fernandez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
GAME TWO RECAP
Saint Louis got on the board in the top of the first. Cotter drew a lead-off walk, and advanced to second on a passed ball and third on a groundout. Cotter scored on a Brock groundout to give the Billikens a short-lived 1-0 lead.
SJU answered with an unearned run in the bottom-half of the inning, but the Billikens regained the lead with a run in the top of the second. Dunn doubled to left, and came around to score on a Calderon single up the middle.
The Hawks tied the score in the bottom of the third, but SLU answered in the top of the fourth on Dunn's solo home run to make it 3-2 Billikens.
For the third time in the game, SJU tied the game with a run in the fifth, only to see SLU regain the lead the very next inning. With the scored knotted at 3-3 in the top of the sixth, Dunn reached on a bunt single and later scored on a Calderon single. The Billikens would score three more times in the top of the eighth on a Calderon RBI single, a Levine walk with the bases loaded and a Cotter sacrifice fly.
Alemann shut the Hawks down the rest of the way and SLU held on for the 7-3 victory. Billiken junior third baseman Jon Myers saw his team season-long 13-game hitting streak come to an end in the second game.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Billikens opened the first game on a high note, scoring three times in the top of the first. SLU began the game with three straight singles, the third being an RBI base knock by Brock to score Cotter. A walk to senior catch Ben Braaten loaded the bases with one out, and sophomore second baseman Zach Miller drove in a run with an RBI fielder's choice to make it 2-0. Fernandez knocked in Brock with an RBI single to left to put the Billikens on top 3-0.
St. Joe's would score three runs in both the second and third innings to take a 6-3 lead, but the persistent SLU offense tied the score with three in the top of the fourth. Fernandez walked and Levine singled. Cotter pulled a single through the right side to plate Fernandez to make it a two-run ballgame. Mancuso doubled to score Levine, and Cotter trotted home on a Myers single to left to tie the game at 6-6.
But Saint Joseph's would plate 11 runs over the next two innings to put the game out of reach. Mancuso registered a sacrifice fly in the fifth and freshman right fielder Mike McKean recorded an RBI single in the seventh, but the Billikens were unable to dig themselves out the hole and fell 17-8.
Cotton lasted 3-1/3 innings, and relievers Jason Bell and Andres Wiltz each pitched an inning or less. Freshman left-hander Jon Levin came on for the final 3-1/3 innings and yielded just one run on six hits while fanning one and walking none. A trio of SJU hitters posted four hits in the contest, while two more had three-hit games. It wasn't the first offensive explosion of the season for the Hawks, as they set school records with 35 runs and 31 hits against New Mexico State earlier this season.
