May 22, 2010

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis completed a three-game sweep of Dayton Saturday with a 3-1 victory at The Billikens Sports Center. In doing so, the Billikens qualified for the Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship, a six-team tournament beginning Wednesday, May 27, at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J.

The championship bracket will be posted tonight at www.atlantic10.org following the conclusion of the Fordham/Duquesne matchup. A Fordham loss would give the Billikens the No. 4 seed, while a Fordham win would give SLU the fifth seed. Either way, SLU will play in the 11 a.m. (CT) matchup on Wednesday.

The Billikens (29-27, 15-12) will be making their second A-10 Tournament appearance since joining the league. In its inaugural season 2006, SLU earned the fifth-seed and went on to claim the conference title, giving the Bills their first and only NCAA Tournament berth since 1966.

On Saturday, starter Jerry Mancuso picked up the victory after tossing eight innings and allowing just one run on 12 hits. Freshman Andres Wiltz earned his second save after twirling a scoreless ninth.

Three different Billikens recorded the three SLU RBIs. In the bottom of the third, Steve Fernandez led off with a double, and Mike Levine singled to put runners at the corners. Mancuso helped his own cause by lifting a sacrifice fly to right to plate Fernandez and put the Billikens on top 1-0.

Dayton, which ends its season at 23-31 overall and 12-15 in the league, scored its only run off Mancuso with a fifth-inning solo homer by Cole Tyrell, which tied the score at 1-1.

But SLU took the lead after pushing across two runs in the eighth. The Billikens loaded the bases on a Mancuso single, Ben Braaten walk. Andrew Guerra drove in Mancuso with a sacrifice fly, and J.D. Dunn delivered an RBI single to plate Myers to put SLU on top 3-1.

Wiltz, who earned the win in yesterday's thrilling come-from-behind victory, retired the Flyers in order in the top of the ninth to help secure the win for the BIllikens.