Missouri State scored in all but one inning on its way to a 10-2 victory over Saint Louis on Wednesday night. The Bears’ (12-9) offensive onslaught kept SLU (11-11) winless on the road for the season.
Missouri State did not waste time getting to Bills starter Lance Rhodes. Tim Rafferty’s triple followed a leadoff walk and made the score 1-0.
The second inning started similarly for Missouri State. A leadoff single and a triple by Nolan Keane made the score 2-0 in favor of the Bears. An RBI single scored another run before Rhodes was able to earn a fly out, for the third out.
The only zero on the scoreboard for the Bears came in the third inning. Rhodes escaped, despite a pair of singles and a Billiken error. Missouri State plated another run in the fourth inning on a pair of two-out singles.
Down 6-0 in the top of the sixth, the Billikens managed to end the shutout. Jon Guyre earned a walk to start the SLU rally. Ryan Crespi followed with the Billikens’ first hit of the evening, with a triple to center field. Crespi scored on a Johnny Sweeney grounder.
Following a Greg Rodgers single, Missouri State was forced to summon a replacement for starter Jake Shafer. Reliever Matt Frevert shut down the Billikens rally and successfully closed out the inning.
Billiken coach Bob Hughes called on Corey Tyberendt to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning. MSU used a pair of hits and a walk to score a run on the SLU reliever.
The Bears stretched the lead to 9-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Jacob Hilgendorf and Matt Lawson hit consecutive triples, and Tanner Mattson earned an RBI with a sacrifice fly.
Mark Hankes came off the bench for a pinch-hit single to start the Billikens’ half of the eighth inning. Hankes moved to second on a two-out single by Tim Landy. The overpowering Frevent used his seventh strikeout to end the inning and stop the Billiken threat. The Billikens put two runners aboard in the last inning, but were unable to score.
The loss for Rhodes was his first decision of the season. The sophomore gave up 10 hits and six runs in five innings of work. On the other side, Shafer improved to 1-1. MSU’s Brayden Drake led all hitters with a 4-4 night.
The Billikens return home for three games this weekend after winning a pair of contests at The Billiken Athletic Center earlier in the week. On Tuesday they downed Eastern Illinois, 7-2. Sunday saw the Billikens win the rubber game of a three-game series against Atlantic 10 foe Richmond, 8-3.
This weekend the Billikens return to conference play, hosting a weekend series against Duquesne. Friday evening’s first pitch is scheduled for 7.
The Bills have 11 wins on the season, putting them two victories short of matching the total for all of last season.
