Box Score SAINT LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Saint Louis University Baseball took its show on the road on Tuesday and picked-up another win. The Billikens posted seven runs and two home runs on the day, as they scraped past the Iowa Hawkeyes 7-6.
Saint Louis (12-7) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of Iowa miscues in the first and one bad pitch in the second.
With one out, Alex King walked and advanced to second on a throwing error to put the first base runner in scoring position for the Billikens. The Billiken shortstop advanced again on a wild pitch before Parker Sniatynski hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give Saint Louis a 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Billikens plated their second run of the game thanks to King. The senior hit the first pitch of the at-bat over the wall in center field to make it 2-0. The Saint Louis offense, however, was unable to keep the Iowa bats quiet for long.
Through two innings, the Hawkeyes had stranded runners in scoring position in each inning, but the home team was able to bat them in during the third.
Billiken starter Charlie Sheehan allowed a leadoff single to Chris Whelan and a pair of walks to Austin Guzzo and Kyle Crowl to load the bases for Matt Hoeg. The senior third baseman followed with a single, which scored Whelan and Guzzo, and tied the game at two apiece.
Saint Louis led briefly after plating another run in the top of the fifth. Cole Dubet was hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning allowing Aaron Case an opportunity to drive in his first run. The Billiken center fielder hit a double to left field, scoring Dubet, and made it 3-2.
The Hawkeyes, however, responded yet again.
For the second time in the game after the Billikens has scored one in the top half, the Hawkeyes scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and took their first lead of the game, 4-3.
Saint Louis continued to get timely hitting, however, and regained the lead shortly thereafter. With a runner on second and two outs, Dubet was plunked for the second time in the game putting runners at first and second for Ryan Hernandez.
The Billiken backstop singled up the middle on a full count to tie the game. Aaron Case followed with a single to left, which scored Dubet, but was caught in a rundown to end the inning.
Carter Hanford continued to hit the cover off the ball on Tuesday and came through for the Billikens in the seventh. The third baseman doubled to right center with two outs to score Jake Garella and put Saint Louis up 6-4. Hanford finished 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
Hernandez provided what was, at the time, an insurance run in the eighth. It ended up, however, the game winning run. The sophomore from Miami, Fla., drilled an 0-2 pitch 394 feet, over the left field wall, and extended the Saint Louis lead to 7-4.
Iowa made one last drive toward a win in the bottom of the ninth. Down by three, left fielder Ben Norman hit a one-out double, which cleared the bases, and made it a 7-6 game. It was Ryan Lefner, however, that shut the door in the end. The Billiken closer struck-out Kyle Crowl, Justin Jenkins, and with Norman standing at second with two away, fanned Zion Pettigrew to preserve the win and pick-up his fourth save of the season.
Four Billikens finished with a two-hit day in Iowa City. Aaron Case, King, Hanford and Hernandez all picked-up a pair of base knocks in the game.
King notched his first home run of the season, while Hernandez clubbed his second of the year.
The two hit-by-pitch game for Dubet was the first time in his career he was hit by multiple pitches in the same game.
Saint Louis has now won its last 11 straight, the longest active winning streak currently in NCAA Baseball. The season long streak was set by Auburn with 15 and just six other teams have had longer streaks this season (Auburn; Florida State, 14; Louisville, 14; Texas Tech, 13; Oregon State, 13; UCF, 13).
With the win, the Billikens are now 4-1 against the Big Ten this season as the team looks toward Atlantic 10 play for the first time in 2018. Saint Louis will open conference play on the road at St. Joeseph's on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST in Philadelphia, Pa.
