March 16, 2011

WIU Game Stats

NIU Game Stats

St. Louis - The Saint Louis baseball team split a pair of games Wednesday at The Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens rallied to down Western Illinois 8-6, but dropped the nightcap 7-3 to Northern Illinois.

The Leathernecks scored a run in the first, but the Bills matched WIU in the bottom half of the inning. Cody Cotter singled, and Jordan Hammerman later drew a walk. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, and Nick Becker's RBI ground out tied the game 1-1. Western Illinois scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead again. SLU pushed across one run in the bottom of the fifth. Connor Gandossy singled with one out, and Cotter drew a walk. Mike Levine's single to center cut the SLU deficit to 5-2. WIU scored one run in the six before the Billikens put on a furious rally.

In the seventh inning, the bases were loaded when Hammerman drew a walk to force in a run. Becker lashed a single right back up the middle as the Billikens closed the gap to 6-4 setting the stage for a four-run eighth inning comeback. Travis Parker, Jon Myers and Gandossy all singled to load the bases. Cotter walked to bring in a run, and Levine's single tied the game 6-6. Hammerman drilled a single to left as Cotter and pinch runner Danny Brennan both scored. Derek Mazzio recorded the final four outs to register his first win of the season.

In the nightcap, the Northern Illinois took advantage of four Billiken defensive miscues to score six runs in the sixth inning and held on for the win. After four scoreless innings, the Huskies broke through for a single run in the fifth. The Billikens answered with their own run in the bottom of the inning. Myers singled, and Marco DiRoma followed with a walk. Myers reached third after a groundout, and he scored on Becker's single back up the middle.

However, NIU pieced together three hits and four SLU errors to reclaim a 7-1 lead. The Billikens earned one run back in the sixth when Cotter drew a walk with the bases loaded. In the bottom of the ninth, SLU edged closer when Jerry Mancuso's RBI single drove in Levine to cut the deficit to 7-3. Steve Fernandez walked, and Hammerman's infield single brought the tying run to the plate. However, the Billikens were unable to close the gap as NIU held on.

The Billikens (11-5) head to Carbondale, Ill., for three games this weekend.