It was 2-2 at one point in the second inning when the Saint Louis University baseball team played the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.

A 10-run fourth inning for the Cardinals, however, was too much for the Billikens to handle, as the game was called at the seventh-inning stretch by mutual consent between managers. The Cardinals ended up winning 15-2 on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

“I want to express my appreciation to the entire St. Louis Cardinals organization for this opportunity,” Baseball Coach Darin Hendrickson said in an online press release. “I’m not taking any stock in the box score, this was just opportunity for our young pitchers to face the quality of hitters here.”

The Billikens were not intimidated by the Cardinals out of the shoot. In the first inning, junior Kevin Guerra walked and sophomore J.D. Dunn singled. After both base runners advanced on a deep fly by senior Greg Rodgers, SLU scored its first run when junior Tom Pinnell drove in Guerra with chopper over the third baseman.

At the bottom of the first, Cardinals prospect Brian Barton crushed a ball to the right that cleared the fences with the help of the wind. The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead.

The Billikens responded in the second inning by tying the score. Senior Casey Moore drove home his teammate on second with a ground-rule double to left center.

The game was broadcast on stlcardinals.com, and Bob Ramsey, known as the “Voice of the Billikens,” and Mike Claiborne called the action.

Everyone on the SLU team saw playing time except the three starting pitchers, who will throw in the Bills’ next match-up against Samford University.

After the game, the Billikens left for Birmingham, Ala., where they will face Samford in a three-game series that begins tonight. The Bills are 1-2 heading into the match-up.

Hendrickson said the game was a great opportunity for the team.

“You can’t put a price tag on the value this will bring to the baseball program and Saint Louis University,” Hendrickson said.