Last night, the Saint Louis University baseball team played a game that never happened.
At T.R. Hughes field in O’Fallon, Mo. the Billikens took the field against the Missouri Tigers for 4 and 2/3 of an inning. With two outs and the Billikens leading 4-2 in the fifth the game was called because of inclement weather.
Billiken ace Ben Hutton had held the Tigers in check for four-plus innings; Mike Orrico and Jim Bredenkoetter each had RBI doubles; and the Billikens were well on their way to victory; but, none of that ever happened.
Unfortunately, the Billikens needed one more out to make the game official. That out never came. So, the Billikens remain 15-17 on the year.
Prior to the imaginary game against Mizzou, the Billikens played an inspired nine innings of ball against Southern Mississippi last Friday night.
Unfortunately, it was a three-game series. The Billikens dropped the final two games of the series due to poor relief pitching and sloppy defense.
The Friday night affair saw Hutton pick up his fifth victory of the year and his third straight conference win. Hutton was in control once again as he surrendered three runs in six-plus innings.
Hutton was able to induce ground balls when he needed. He escaped, allowing only three runs even though he allowed 11 hits. He struck out six and didn’t allow a walk or a hit batsman in the game. His six strikeouts helped push his strikeout to walk ratio to almost 3:1.
The offense also continued its resurgence on Friday night. The Bills jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the Golden Eagles. The Bills were lead by the 4-5 performance of designated hitter Mike Orrico. Every Billiken hitter had at least one hit in the game, and the team had 17.
Late in the game the Golden Eagles made a gallant comeback, but it was freshman Dave Guntorius who came on and slammed the door on the Eagles.
For Guntorius it was his second save of the season. The save preserved Hutton’s fifth win of the year, which is the most for a Billiken pitcher since the 1996 season.
Coach Bob Hughes said, “On Friday we had a great performance. They (Southern Mississippi) were very competitive, and they didn’t quit, but more importantly, neither did we.”
As Saturday rolled around the Billikens were looking for their second straight conference series win. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles came out swinging the bats with a vengeance.
“We pitched Saturday like we were afraid. We were a little too careful and were always behind in the count. We were treating all of their hitters like they were Babe Ruth. When we gave them favorable counts of 2-1 and 3-1, they hit the ball hard,” said Hughes.
Billiken pitchers Wes Jaillet and Zach Placzek gave up 11 runs combined, all of which were earned. Southern Miss pounded out 14 hits and were also the beneficiaries of four walks and two hit batsman. Those 14 hits led Southern Miss to an 11-5 victory.
For the Billikens, the hits just keep on coming; the news broke that Placzek is going to have to have an MRI on his shoulder this week with the possibility of a torn shoulder muscle lurking on the horizon.
Sunday’s rubber game proved to be another disappointment for the Billikens as they fell to 5-7 in conference with a 6-2 loss. Bills starter Dan Shouse threw the ball pretty well, but was touched up for six runs, five being earned in his 6 and 2/3 innings of work.
“Shouse gave us a decent outing, and all we did was collapse behind him,” said Hughes.
The Bills defense on Sunday was shaky as they committed three errors behind their pitchers. Shouse put the Billikens in a position to be able to win the game. The Bills had 10 hits, but couldn’t come up with a key hit in an RBI situation as they stranded 11.
“We swung the bats well, but not well enough. We just didn’t get the job done in pressure situations where we had men on base in position to score,” said Hughes.
The two consecutive losses to Southern Miss left the Bills in a four-way tie for fifth place in Conference-USA at 5-7. The Bills will get back to action today against Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. at 7 p.m.
After that, the Billikens will host South Florida for a three-game conference series over the weekend. The Bulls are tied for second place in C-USA with an 8-4 record. First pitch on Friday is at 7 p.m., and each of the last two games have a 1 p.m. start time.
