When the pitchers perform and the offense produces, the St. Louis University men’s baseball team is one to be reckoned with. When one of the two falters, it’s pure disaster, as was the case last weekend against the University of Houston.
The Billikens woeful ways continued as they succumbed to the nationally-ranked Cougars 4-0, 15-4, and 5-0 in a three game set. SLU’s record dropped to 17-29 overall and 5-16 in Conference USA.
“We knew it was going to be a tough series. They’re a good team from top to bottom,” said SLU coach Bob Hughes.
In game one, Dan Shouse dominated from the mound, giving up only four runs on seven hits, while striking out five in eight innings. Houston’s pitching, however, limited the Bills to four hits, including three from Brian Haddock. Shouse gave up four hits in the top of the third that brought in Houston’s first two runs.
He settled down and allowed only three more hits in the next four innings. The Cougar’s Kris Wilken hit a two run shot in the eighth to give Houston a 4-0 lead.
Saturday’s game two marked an offensive outburst by the Cougars. SLU led 2-1 after the first, with Nick Steiner recording both RBI on a one-out single. Wes Jaillet pitched into the fourth, giving up five runs on 10 hits while striking out five.
Unfortunately, Houston’s high-octane offense could not be stopped. They produced 21 hits, an amazing four home runs and five triples.
Pitchers Brad Wehrfritz and Dan Parker could do no better as they gave up 10 runs on 11 hits the rest of the way. Houston broke away with a five-run seventh that increased their lead to 12-4.
“Our pitching faltered. We would have had to play our very best to win,” Hughes said.
Game three was similar to game one: good pitching and no offense. Ben Hutton took to the mound and pitched seven strong innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, while striking out two. He retired the side in the first before giving up two runs on three hits in the second.
With Hutton shutting down Cougar opponents, the Bills were down just 3-0 after seven innings. SLU tried to rally in the eighth when Joe Boyer singled and was sacrificed to second by Steve Moss for the second out. However, Houston brought in reliever Greg Runser, who struck out Kurt Evans, to end the inning.
Despite the losses, SLU is looking forward to this weekend when they take on C-USA rival UNC-Charlotte. The 49ers just moved into fourth place in the conference, and the Bills know they have a challenge in front of them. With a good showing, SLU could still get into the C-USA tournament.
“Offensively, we need to come to play. They’ve got very strong pitching and we have to take advantage of our opportunities,” Hughes said.
Last night at Capaha Park In Cape Giradeau, Mo., the Billikens defeated the Southeast Missouri State Indians 10-9 in 10 innings.
The Bills fell behind 3-0 after the first three innings. But the Billiken bats awoke in the fourth when SLU tacked on five runs to take a 5-3 lead.
In the sixth, SLU added three more runs to go up 8-3. But SEMO scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth and then tallied three runs in the eighth to tie the game, 8-8.
In the 10th inning, Jim Bredenkoetter hit an RBI single, and Adam Shea had an RBI walk to give SLU a 10-8 lead.
SEMO slammed a solo home run in their half of the frame, but Wes Jaillet shut the Indians down to pick up the win.
With the win, SLU improves to 18-29.
