The Saint Louis University men's baseball team saw a much-needed homestand go up in flames, losing five of six games this past week at the Billiken Sports Complex.
Their lone win came in the first game of the homestand, a 4-2 victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. Sophomore Ryan Bird had a great outing for the Billikens, pitching a complete game and allowing just one earned run and striking out eight while leading the Billikens to victory. Bird got his first win of the season, and he did so without allowing an extra-base hit.
"The key to victory in the win against Eastern Illinois was Ryan Bird on the mound," junior Tim Landy said. "He carried us on his back. We didn't hit that well, and we left a lot of runners on base. But we played good defense behind his gem of an outing."
The Billikens were behind 2-0 after the first inning but clawed back, scoring one run in four of the next five innings. Junior Matt Gerst led the Billikens with three hits.
The Billikens lost their next game to the Missouri Tigers, ranked 24th in the country. Missouri got five runs (all of which were unearned) off junior starting pitcher Etienne Ratte-Delorme. The game was tied 5-5 going into the sixth, but the Tigers' offense erupted for 11 runs on 11 hits in the final four innings. The bullpen did not help itself by walking nine Tigers.
The deficit was too much to overcome for the Billiken offense, which had 12 hits, including three by senior first baseman Scott Peden and two each by Landy and senior infielder Drew Eder. Sophomore Bill Musselman also hit a solo homerun in the second inning, to pull the Billikens within one run, 4-3.
The Billikens were swept in their three-game series against Charlotte. Suspect defense cost the Billikens in the first game; they had six errors that led to 12 unearned runs and an eventual 21-9 defeat.
The Billikens were down just 4-2 in the fourth inning, but the Tigers scored nine runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and five in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The Billiken offense was impressive once again. Scott Peden led the attack with two hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homerun.
The Billikens lost 11-7 in the second game against UAB.
Sophomore Eric Rohr pitched magnificently through five innings, allowing just one run. He struggled in the sixth, however, as Charlotte scored six runs to take a 7-1 lead. The 49ers tacked on four more runs in the eighth, to take a commanding 11-2 lead.
The Billikens, who had another good day at the plate trumped by poor pitching, were paced by Pat Steinhoff. The senior shortstop had three hits and a career-high four RBIs.
Despite taking a 5-4 lead into the eighth inning in the series finale, the Billikens lost a 9-5 decision against the 49ers. Ryan Bird struggled early against the Charlotte offense, allowing four runs in the second inning. He quickly settled down, holding the 49ers to just three hits and did not allow a run over the next five innings. The Billiken offense mustered just four hits on the day, but efficiently manufactured their five runs, including two bases-loaded walks. Late errors did the Billikens in, and the 49ers scored five runs in the final two innings for the sweep.
The Billikens lost the last game of their homestand against Southeast Missouri State, a 3-2 heartbreaker in extra innings. Ratte-Delorme was untouchable, allowing no runs while striking out five in nine innings of work.
After an error in the top of the fifth inning helped the Tigers tie the score at 1-1, the Billikens failed to score after loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Missouri rallied for two runs in the 10th to take a 3-1 lead.
The Billikens rallied in the ninth, trailing by just one run with a runner on third and two outs. A strikeout ended the game and the homestand for SLU.
The Billikens (4-21, 1-8 C-USA) travel to Southwest Missouri State on Wednesday before hosting a three-game series this weekend with conference rival Cincinnati.
