ARLINGTON, Va. - [BOX SCORE] Saint Louis University needed a solid pitching performance against a hot-hitting Davidson squad on Tuesday and got exactly that. Miller Hogan tossed seven full innings and the Billiken offense exploded for five runs and six hits in the bottom of the seventh as they grabbed a big 11-5 win in the opening game of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship.

Saint Louis (36-18) looked strong early behind the big first inning of Hogan. The junior hurler struck-out the side in the top of the first to set the tone.

The Billikens plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Cole Dubet led-off the inning with a single to set-up the offense. James Morisano followed with a double to put runners at second and third with no outs.

Aaron Case stepped to the plate and batted Dubet in moments later. The senior center fielder sent a ball into center to put the Billikens up 1-0.

The Wildcats followed with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Max Bazin recorded a single to lead-off the inning and scored on a Ward Coleman double to tie the game at one. Cam Johnson singled with one out to plate Coleman and gave Davidson a 2-1 lead.

Saint Louis entered the fifth down by a pair, but two big at-bats put the Billikens right back into it. Alex King muscled-up on his 14th home run of the year, a solo shot to lead-off the inning before Parker Sniatynski put a two-run shot over the wall down the left field line to make it a 4-3 game. King's home run was measured at 401 feet to straight away center.

Davidson tied it on a solo home run of its own in the top of the sixth. Justin Lebek hit his 10th of the year to make it a 4-4 game. The game changed, however, in the bottom of the seventh.

A quick 1-2-3 inning for Hogan gave way to a crooked number for the Billikens in the seventh. Saint Louis posted five runs on six hits, two of which were RBI doubles from Kyle Fletcher and Nick Reeser, and team in blue never looked back. They tacked-on another in the eighth and advanced to the semifinals in the winners' bracket on Friday.

Hogan recorded his 10th win of the year, a new career-high, as he struck-out nine in a 106-pitch outing. With his nine strikeouts, he moved into first place by himself as the All-Time leader in strikeouts in a season at Saint Louis with 129. The previous high was set by John Marcum with 120 in 1965.

Luke Sommerfeld entered in the eighth and tossed one and two-thirds of an inning before Charlie Sheehan got the final out.

With the win, the Billikens advance to Friday's semifinal in the winner's bracket as they face the No. 2-seed George Mason. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CDT. Live coverage of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship can be found on the A-10 Network HERE.