ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis rattled off nine hits in the third game against the Hawks of Saint Joseph's, but SJU won the finale 10-4 to earn the sweep. Saint Louis stumbles to 21-10 overall and 5-4 in Atlantic 10 play. Saint Joseph's is 12-20 on the year and 4-2 in the conference. This is the first time this season that the Billikens have dropped three straight contests.

The game remained scoreless through three innings, but the Hawks exploded for eight runs in the top of the fourth. In the frame, SJU tallied seven hits and SLU threw four pitchers. The Billikens have not allowed eight runs in an inning since Dayton scored nine in the fourth on March 30 of this season.

Saint Joseph's tacked on two more runs in the seventh to bring the score to 10-0 through seven innings. Head coach Darin Hendrickson made some changes in the eighth, sending in reserve players with success. The Bills broke up the shutout on an RBI single from redshirt Freshman Devin O'Rourke in the eighth. Saint Louis scored off three more runs in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately came up short in the loss.

For the second consecutive day, the Hawks' starting pitching was tough. Alex Pracher threw seven shutout innings, striking out eight and not allowing a walk. Yesterday's starter, Kyle Mullen, went eight innings with two earned runs, eight strikeouts and no walks.

Despite losing three straight, junior third basemen Grant Nelson had a solid series. He was 5-for-11 with three runs scored and a triple on the weekend. He is also on a four-game hitting streak.

The Billikens will return to action on Wed., April 11 when they travel to SIU Edwardsville for a game at 6:00 p.m.