The Saint Louis University baseball team hits the road this weekend for a three game set with Conference USA rival Louisville. The games will kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday. The Bills will play another Saturday and wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon.
The Bills enter the game with an overall record of 9-13, 1-8 in Conference USA.
Last night the Bills hosted the Tigers of Missouri at the Billiken Sports Center. The Tigers came into the game having won the past 12 contests against the Bills. They added one more, pulling away from the Bills in the late innings and winning 12-6. The Tigers brought an eight-game winning streak into the game.
Despite blustery winds, which caused more than a few adventures for players on the field with pop-ups, the Bills stayed close to the Tigers throughout the contest, striking first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. But Mizzou answered right back with two runs of its own in the top half of the second.
By the bottom half of the third inning, the Bills had managed to post a 4-2 lead.
The Bills started the inning with a pair of singles and were able to bring home their two runs thanks to a walk, a passed ball, an error and an infield single.
However, with only one out and the bases full of Billikens, MU was able to pitch itself out of a jam and ensure that the lead would only be two.
Mizzou took the lead, 5-4, in the top half of the fourth. The Bills managed to tie the game once more in the bottom half of the inning but that was the last time the game was even close, as the Tigers soon pulled away.
In the top of the sixth, the Tigers were finally able to get to Bills starting pitcher Zack Placzek, leading the inning off with two sharp singles, putting runners at the corners with no outs.
The Bills brought in a reliever, Eric Rohr, but he was unable to stop the bleeding and the Tigers brought home four runs in the top of the inning, making the score an insurmountable 9-5.
The game last night marked the end of an 11-game homestand for the Bills.
Tuesday night, the Bills beat the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, avenging a previous loss this season when the Bills went down to Martin and lost by a single run. The final was 11-7. Six different Bills knocked in runs against the Skyhawks on Tuesday, showing a bit of an offensive surge that has been prevalent much of the season.
The Bills started the assault with six runs in the bottom of the third, which was started by a RBI single from Ryan Murphy, that knocked in Johnny Sweeney.
From there, the Bills never looked back. They scored a run in each of the last five innings, and effectively put the game out of reach.
Kris Weber came in as a relief pitcher for Kurt Struckoff in the fifth and earned the win for the Bills.
