April 16, 2010

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Fordham scored four runs in the bottom of the second and withstood a late Saint Louis rally to hang on for a 6-4 victory Friday in the first game of an Atlantic 10 Conference baseball series at Houlihan Park.

The Billikens dip to 18-17 overall and 6-4 in the A-10, while the Rams improve to 11-21 and 6-4 in the league. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at noon (CT).

Saint Louis, which entered the contest leading the league in home runs, scored all four of its tallies via the long ball. Senior third baseman Jon Myers, who belted three homer in SLU's last outing, hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth. Freshman designated hitter Steve Fernandez homered to start the seventh, and belted a two-run shot an inning later.

The Rams opened the scoring with four runs on five hits in the second off SLU starter Bryant Cotton. Myers trimmed the deficit to 4-1 with his team-leading 14th home run of the season in the fourth, but Fordham got that run back in the fifth to make it 5-1.

That remained the score until the seventh, when SLU cut it to 5-2 with Fernandez's first homer. But the Rams scored again in the seventh, and the Billikens could not get anything going in the ninth after pulling to within two after the Fernandez two-run shot in the eighth. The homers were the third and fourth of the season for Fernandez.

Cotton tossed all eight innings for the Billikens, allowing six runs on 13 hits. He struck out eight and walked two. Fernandez finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Seven different players combined for SLU's eight hits.

Reigning A-10 Rookie of the week Alex Alemann is expected to start tomorrow against Fordham. He is 5-3 with a 4.84 ERA.