PREVIEW
This week, the Billikens take to the road for a mid-week game at SIU Edwardsville, followed by a weekend series against Xavier. The Bills have a losing record against both schools, but have accumulated more wins in 2012 than either team.

LAST WEEK
Saint Louis suffered its first series sweep at the hands of Saint Joseph's last weekend. The weekend opened with a 13-inning, 3-2 loss on Thursday. It was the longest contest the Billikens have had this season.

BILLIKEN RECORD BOOK:
• Senior Travis Parker holds SLU's all-time mark in career saves with 14.
• Junior Mike Levine is fourth all-time in career assists with 460. He needs 17 to crack the top three.
• Junior Alex Alemann is third all-time in career wins with 19. John Marcum is second all-time with 21.
• On March 6, 2012 against Southeast Missouri State, the Billikens set a school record for runs scored in a contest with 22. They also set the standard for HBP with 7.
• From March 4 through March 25, Saint Louis recorded 13 straight victories, a program-best win streak.

BILLIKENS IN THE NATIONAL STATS:
• RHP Alex Alemann is 19th in the NCAA with five wins, 21st in starts (7) and 22nd in complete games (2).
• DH Marco DiRoma is 13th in OBP (.518), 39th in runs per game (1.23) and 35th in walks per game (.95)
• As a team, SLU is seventh in the NCAA in walks drawn (163), 17th in on-base (.401), eighth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.11) and 10th in walks allowed per nine (2.39).

ACROSS THE DIAMOND
SIU Edwardsville
The Cougars are led by long-time head coach Gary Collins, in his 34th season at SIUE. Joel Greatting leads the squad with a .439 on-base percentage while hitting .294 and driving in 22. Brooks McDowell will take the hill for the Cougars. He sports an 11.81 ERA with nine punch outs.

Xavier
The Musketeers are coming off of a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Miami Redhawks on Tuesday. Xavier is led by head coach Scott Googin, who is in his eighth season at the helm. Derek Hasenbeck is the top hitter for XU, hitting .284 with 16 RBI. Vinny Nittoli gets the ball on Fridays for the Musketeers. He totes a 3-3 record and a 4.46 ERA.

BILLIKENS' HARD NINE
COMMANDING THE ZONE
The Billikens pitching staff is second in the Atlantic 10 in walks allowed (73) and strikeouts (227). They also rarely hit batters as they have 17 hit batters in 31 games, the fewest in the A-10. Junior Alex Alemann and sophomore Clay Smith lead the Bills with 44 punchouts.

SHUTTING THE DOOR
At the end of the game, Travis Parker has thrown 18.2 innings over 13 appearances, notching four saves. He has also struck out 18 and has not allowed an earned run this season.

JUNIORS LEAD THE WAY
The junior quad of Alex Kelly, Steve Fernandez, Grant Nelson and Mike Levine have started in all 31 games for Saint Louis this season. The juniors are among the leaders in every category for the Bills. Kelly leads the team in slugging percentage, home runs, walks and hits. Fernandez is the team leader in RBIs. Levine is the defensive stalwart, leading SLU in assists and double plays. Nelson has a team-best 10 doubles.

SURPRISE STEAL
Senior Marco DiRoma swiped three bags against North Dakota on March 9, falling one steal short of the Billiken single game record. The former catcher, current DH, had not attempted a single steal in his SLU career prior to 2012. This season, he has a team-leading 10 thefts, good for eighth in the A-10.

WALK LIKE A BILLIKEN
The Billikens own a .402 on-base percentage this season, leading the A-10. Their 162 walks also leads the A-10. Junior Alex Kelly leads the team with 20 free passes, fourth in the conference. Junior Mike Levine is tied for fourth in the A-10 with nine hit by pitches.

SEASON OF THE STREAK
Saint Louis has had streaks of all varieties this season. Senior Marco DiRoma has had the longest hitting streak of the year at eight games. He also recorded a 19-game on base streak this year. Earlier this season, the Bills rattled off 13 consecutive wins, a SLU record winning streak.

NATIONAL RESPECT
The Billikens were ranked 30th in the Mar. 26 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper to earn the first national ranking in school history. The Bills have made the NCAA postseason tournament three times, but have never earned a spot in any of the national polls.

ALEMANN NAMED A-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Junior RHP Alex Alemann earned Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honors for his efforts in the series opener against Northern Illinois. It is the second time he has been honored. Alemann also received accolades on Mar. 5 for his game against St. Mary's College.

KELLY EARNS CONFERENCE HONOR
Junior Alex Kelly won Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Feb. 27 for his series against Mount St. Mary's. In the four-game series, the Fort Collins, Colo., native ripped his second home run of the season, while maintaining a .583 average. He also crossed the plate eight times, while adding a double and a RBI.