Saint Louis University softball team was in action on Tuesday at the Billiken Sports Center for a double header against Southeast Missouri State. The two teams split a pair of games. The Billikens had been riding high after sweeping in-conference foe George Washington over the weekend.
The Bills took the first half of the doubleheader behind the right arm of sophomore Ashley Levan, who pitched a complete game to lead the Bills to a 3-0 victory. Levan held the Redhawks to a paltry five hits over the course of the game. The victory was Levan’s ninth of the season.
The Bills scored all of their runs in the bottom half of the third, giving Levan some early breathing room. From there, Levan shut down SEMO and assured the Bills of victory.
Sophomore third baseman Jody Herbert started the third off with a single, but was replaced on the basepaths for a pinchrunner, sophomore Jess Burns. Burns advanced to third on a single to rightfield by junior infielder Christy Ernst. Senior infielder Ashlee Heady followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Burns. Senior infielder AshLeigh Williams stepped up to the plate and belted a two-run homerun to right-centerfield.
The Redhawks loaded the bases with two outs in the top half of the seventh, but Levan came back and struck out the last batter to end the game.
The three runs were more than enough for the Bills, who were starving for run support in the nightcap, as the Redhawks came back to win 9-0. NCAA’s eight-run rule was enforced in the second game, so it ended after only five innings of play.
SEMO’s Lindsay Pickering abused Billiken pitching in the second game, hitting a three-run homerun in the third inning and an RBI single in the fifth inning, both off Levan. Levan relieved sophomore Lorena Floccari in the third inning for the Billikens. Pickering’s four RBIs definitely led the way, but Michelle Summers also knocked in two runs for the Redhawks.
The Billikens’ bats must have been tired from the first game; they could only muster three hits in 17 at-bats, for a .176 batting average. All three hits were singles, but the Bills did threaten in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Ernst hit a one-out single up the middle and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Heady. Williams hit a single, and Ernst advanced to third on the play. Leftfielder Logan Justice walked to load the bases, but Levan struck out looking to end the Bills’ threat. The split pushed the Billikens’ record to 13-16 on the season. Meanwhile, SEMO improved to 21-10.
The Billikens swept their doubleheader on Saturday against visiting George Washington, 8-0 and 6-4.
Levan and Floccari both had quality stars to lead the Billikens, against GW, who came into the series as the best-hitting team in the Atlantic 10.
Levan started the first game and held the Colonials to one hit, using a five-run cushion established in the third inning as breathing room.
In the third, sophomore Jill Pursell, Ernst and Heady all singled with one out, loading the bases. Willams drew a walk to drive in a run, keeping the bases loaded. Justice then ripped a single to left to plate Heady and Ernst. Justice and Williams advanced to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch, and both scored on Floccari’s double, to cap the scoring in the inning for the Bills.
In the second game, the Bills jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second, and never looked back. Justice hit a double and scored on the subsequent single by Floccari. Junior Jenna Renner hit a single, and she and Floccari scored on a two-out triple by Pursell.
The Bills caught some two-out magic in the fifth to add three more runs. Freshman Rachel Heet and Pursell recorded outs to start things off. Ernst and Heady hit back-to-back doubles, the latter driving in the former. Williams then stepped up to the plate and hit a two-run homerun, scoring Heady.
George Washington scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh off freshman Erica May, who relieved Floccari. But Floccari came back to relieve May and, after a little trouble, rebounded to strike out the last batter and end the threat.
The Billikens will be traversing the east half of the country for two doubleheaders this weekend. First, they travel to New York City this Friday to visit the Fordham Rams. They will then move to Philadelphia for a series on Sunday with LaSalle.
