Sometimes you don’t want to be homeward bound.
The Saint Louis University softball team had built a 12-6 overall record and a 1-5 record in Conference USA, all on the road. The Billikens hosted their home opener yesterday and lost a double-header to the Louisville Cardinals at the Billiken Sports Complex.
Louisville struck early in the first game, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Junior third baseman Keola Calderon reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. When SLU tried to throw her out at second, the errant throw sailed into center field. Calderon raced home for a 1-0 Cardinals lead.
That would be all that Louisville needed, as junior pitcher Jessica Rak shut down the Billikens, giving up six SLU hits on the afternoon.
Rak forced the Billikens to hit ground balls throughout the contest and relied on her defense to support her.
Louisville added a second run in the second inning. Junior catcher Lisa McMillan scored when sophomore left fielder Shannon Nord tripled to center.
Junior third baseman Melissa Jacobo led off the sixth inning by pounding a pitch over the left field wall. SLU pitcher Nicole Bohnenstiehl rebounded from the blast and shut down the Cardinals that inning.
The Cardinals rounded out the scoring in the top of the seventh inning. Nord led off the inning with an infield single.
Senior shortstop Kanzie Meisenburg followed with a single to centerfield. Sara Bausher sacrificed both runners up a base and Calderon drove in Nord with a groundout to second base.
“After beating Southern Miss at home, I felt we were ready to come into this series and play well,” said coach Jim Molloy. “The errors in that game hurt us. We weren’t productive when we had runners on base. That’s been a problem for us the last few games.”
The Billikens appeared to be on the way to avenging the opening-game loss.
After working around a Louisville single in the top of the first and a perfect second inning, the Billikens asserted themselves in the bottom of the second.
Junior designated hitter/catcher Adrie Bogaars led off the frame with a single up the middle. Junior first baseman Beth Yagge followed with another single. Senior Christina Bateman pinch-ran for Bogaars. Bateman and Yagge executed a double steal and both were successful.
Sophomore pitcher Heather Hubert drove in both runners with a triple to left field. After the Cardinals recorded two outs, SLU struck again.
Sophomore third baseman Kerri Higgins singled and scored on a fielder’s choice by Erin Jeffrey to build SLU’s lead to 4-0.
The Cardinals made a dent in the lead, scoring one run on one walk, a single and a sacrifice. In the top of the fourth, Louisville strung four straight singles together, but only managed to score one run.
Jeffrey threw out a potential Louisville run at the plate. Then Hubert forced Louisville to pop out before striking out Nord to end the threat.
The Billikens answered back with one run. Bogaars led off the third inning with a rope over the left field wall. But that was the end of SLU’s offensive success. The Billikens only managed two hits from the fourth inning on.
Louisville, however, hit its stride in later innings. In the fifth inning, Louisville sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored five runs as it abused SLU pitching. Meisenberg led off with a single and scored on a triple by Bausher. Later in the inning, freshman Lisa Estes drove in two more runs with a triple to right field. When the dust settled at the end of the inning, Louisville had grabbed a 7-5 lead.
Louisville padded its lead in the top of the sixth. Calderon doubled to start the inning. Jacobo followed with a double to left field that plated Calderon.
“We were ahead 5-0 and let them get back in the game,” Molloy said. “Our pitchers didn’t pitch as well as they should have. We have a good team, with speed on both ends of the lineup. It’s just a matter of getting clutch hits and making quality pitches when we need them.”
The Billikens have a chance to turn things around with a double-header today at 1 p.m. against Southeast Missouri State at the Billiken Sports Complex.
“SEMO is always tough. They have a good program,” Molloy said. “It’s a matter of how focused we are, if we’re ready to play and can stay focused throughout the game.”
