After struggling in their season-opening series at Troy, the baseball teamed hoped to score their first win of the season in a weekend series at Central Arkansas. The Bills dropped all three games of the series, falling to 0-6 on the season, a far cry from what the team had hoped for, especially considering they are coming off a season that saw their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1966.
The opening game of the series saw the Bills struggle defensively. The Bears applied pressure in the first inning. A bunt single and a fielding error by senior Casey Moore, followed by a sacrifice, advanced both runners into scoring position, with only one out. Sophomore Dave Sever allowed a single to first-baseman Grant Gatlin, plating the game’s first two runs.
The Billikens struck back in the fourth inning. Senior Ryan Crespi led off the inning with a single and stole second base, to put himself in scoring position. Fellow senior Gilbert Marlowe lined a single up the middle to plate Crespi and pull the Bills within one run, at 2-1. Marlowe advanced on the throw to home, moved to third on an ensuing groundout by senior Bill Musselman and scored on a sacrifice fly from junior Greg Rodgers, to knot the game at 2-2.
The Bears returned fire in the fifth inning. After loading the bases, Sever minimized the damage, but allowed one run on a fielding error by sophomore Ziggy Moore.
The Bills clawed back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth. Marlowe reached on a single and advanced to second base on a failed pickoff attempt. He scored on a Musselman double that briefly tied the contest at 3-3. Rodgers scorched a single to plate Musselman and give the Bills a 4-3 lead.
Senior Brock Hewitt entered the game for the Bills in relief of Sever. After retiring the first two batters, Hewitt hit a batter and allowed a single to put runners on the corners. Hewitt was lifted for junior Mark Zielinski, who allowed a single to his first batter to tie the game at 4-4.
Junior Eric Mueller entered the contest and was also unable to record the final out. Mueller hit the next two batters and the Bears took a 5-4 lead. After bringing in junior B.J. Rodrique, who walked in an additional run, the Bills finally escaped the inning, down 6-4.
The Bills were retired in order, to close the ninth inning, and fell by the same 6-4 margin.
The Bills looked to bounce back on Saturday, but the game was delayed by rain. They opened a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon with hopes of recording their first win of the season.
The Bills opened the scoring in the first inning as freshman J.D. Dunn singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, junior Blake Bratcher plated Dunn to give the Bills a 1-0 advantage.
They struck again in the second inning as Rodrique and Crespi both reached base with no outs. Dunn walked to load the bases, and a ground out by sophomore Matt Mach plated Rodrique to give the Bills a 2-0 lead.
After the Bears tied the contest in the fourth inning at 2-2, the Bills again returned fire. Consecutive one-out singles by Crespi and sophomore Tom Pinnell provided the framework for Dunn’s run-scoring single, to give the Bills a 3-2 lead. A single by Mach gave the Bills a 4-2 lead.
Senior Ryan Bird surrendered back-to-back doubles to open the Bears’ scoring in the sixth inning. A single with one out scored another run and tied the game at 4-4.
Zielinski came on again in relief to start the seventh inning. Zielinski allowed a leadoff triple and induced a flyout before being relieved by senior Justin Wise. Wise allowed a run-scoring single, giving the Bears a lead that they would not relinquish.
The Bills couldn’t muster any more scoring and fell 5-4.
The Bears jumped out on SLU in the first inning of game three with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Bills responded with a rally of their own in the third inning. Dunn doubled with one out and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Crespi doubled to score the first run of the game, and Bratcher added a single to make the score 2-2.
The Billikens tallied three more runs in the fourth inning. Marlowe reached on a bunt single, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. An RBI double by junior Ryan Bennett and a single by Bratcher helped the Bills stretch their lead to 5-2.
A two-out double by Rodgers in the in the sixth inning stretched the Bills lead to 7-2. They added three more runs in the seventh inning, on run-scoring singles by Dunn and Bratcher. While the Bears began chipping away at the Billiken lead, SLU kept the pressure on, scoring one run in the eighth inning.
Just when it looked like the SLU lead was safe, the Bears scored five runs in the eighth and four in the ninth inning, to force extra innings.
After the Bills went down in order, to begin the extra frame, the Bears plated the game-winning run on a two-out run-scoring double, giving Central Arkansas a thrilling 13-12 triumph.
The Bills return to action today against New Mexico in the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Classic at Texas A&M. Game time is 12:30 p.m.
