This week saw Billiken baseball take on Temple in Philadelphia, and try to take on Missouri State before foul weather caused the game to be cancelled.
The Bills first took on Temple in a three game series. Game one began with a single to center from Ryan Crespi, followed by an RBI double by Tom Pinnell. Casey Moore kept the run going with another RBI double.
After one out, Bill Musselman knocked Moore home with a three RBI double. Blake Bratcher was walked at the next at bat, allowing Musselman to steal both third and home to bring the Bills to 4-0.
The Bill’s stellar start was followed by Temple fighting back, bringing the lead to within one in the bottom of the third. The Bills offense ran out of luck, and three runners were left on base from the third to the seventh innings. Temple, however, continued its run, screaming up to 12-4 in the bottom of the seventh before Eric Brewer, the Bills reliever, was able to close the inning.
The Billikens put on their rally caps in the top of the eighth, and stuck at Temple’s lead. B.J. Rodrigue started the rally with a single to right. J.D. Dunn continued by whacking a fly ball to right that put runners on first and third. Pinch hitter Ryan Johnson drew a walk to load the bases.
Crespi then stepped up and ripped a double down the left field line, sending home both Bratcher and Rodrigue. Temple then walked three consecutive runners to bring the Bills to within two. From there, however, the Bills could not continue the rally and lost 12-10.
In the second game, the Bills were much more successful, taking home a win in extra innings. Once more, the Bills got off to a strong start. Crespi led off the first with a double to left field.
Pinnell sacrificed to get Crespi to third, and Moore sacrificed to send Crespi home. Temple responded, however, and knocked in two runs in the bottom of the first.
The second inning saw Musselman lead off with a double, only to be left on base when the Temple pitcher struck out three consecutive batters.
The Billikens responded with Eric Rohr retiring the Temple order. The third inning, then, saw the Billikens surge ahead.
The Bills led off the inning with a double from Ziggy Moore, who was sent home by Crespi, to tie the game at two. Pinnell then sacrificed for Crespi, who advanced to third, and scored on a ground ball from Casey Moore. Greg Rodgers got on base through a walk, but was left there, when a fly ball ended the inning.
In the fourth, the Bills continued their streak. Rodrigue got on base because of an error, and advanced to third on a single from Ziggy Moore. Crespi reached second on an error that also led to Rodrigue scoring.
Pinnell then stepped up and ripped a double to left field that scored both Ziggy Moore and Crespi.
Casey Moore then hit his second RBI, followed by a walk for Rodgers, and a double from Musselman made the score 7-2.
The next innings saw the defense struggle, and the errors got the better of SLU and Temple was able to draw to within two.
In the top of the eighth, Ziggy Moore reached third on an error and was sent home on an RBI single to right field. Casey Moore was then walked, followed by single from Musselman. The inning was closed by a strikeout.
In the ninth, the game started to get interesting with the Bills scoring three and Temple tying. Rodrigue led off the inning taking a free base after being hit by the pitch.
He then scored on a single and a Temple error. Pinnell and Casey Moore then got on base through walks, loading the bases. Moore then scored on a walk from Rodrigue.
In response, Temple tied the game, sending it into extra innings.
The Bills were able to load the bases in the tenth, but could not capitalize on it. As a result, the game saw an 11th inning.
Casey Moore started the ball rolling with a single to left field. While Ryan Bennett drew a walk, Musselman tried an unseccessful sacrifice bunt, but ended up turning it into a single.
An error then allowed Casey Moore and Bennett to score. Then, Rodrigue knocked a RBI single to left, and L.J. Watson ripped a double to left. The Bills were able to hold on to their lead and win 14-10.
The final game versus Temple saw the Bills unable to repeat their success.
They started off strong with two hits and a walk, but due to runners getting tagged out, they were unable to capitalize on their hits.
Temple, on the other hand, capitalized on their hits and scored in the bottom of the second. Though Billikens starter Sever was able to hold Temple there for three innings, the Bills, likewise, were held.
In the bottom of the seventh, Temple opened up the game and stretched their lead to 5-0.
In the ninth, the Bills mounted a rally, but once more they were unable to score when they left base runner stranded. The game ended 7-0 in Temple’s favor.
The match against Missouri State was called in the top of the second inning due to rain despite a 1-0 Billiken advantage. The Billikens will take on St. Joseph’s on Friday at the Billiken Sports Center.
