It was a historic, if disappointing, night for Saint Louis last night.
The Billikens got pounded last night by the Missouri Tigers 19-6 at Busch Stadium. It was the first time the stadium, home to Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, has hosted a D-1 baseball game.
The game served a dual purpose-the Billikens and Tigers got to play in the home of Pujols, Ankiel, Glaus, Ludwick and Carpenter, and the staff of Busch Stadium was able to do a dry run before the Cardinals fly home on Monday.
“It’s Busch Stadium, you know?” Ryan Bennett said. “We got here early to enjoy the scenery. It’s cool to say we got to play where the Cardinals play. It’s a beautiful field and it’s an awesome atmosphere.”
The loss dipped the Billikens to 14-13 on the season, while Missouri evened its record at 14-14.
Freshman third baseman Zach Miller went 3-for-5 with four RBIs to lead SLU’s offensive effort, while the Tigers were led by Michael Liberto’s four-hit, three-RBI performance at the plate.
The Tigers, ranked 10th nationally in pre-season rankings, have slowly gained heat after fizzling early in the season while the Bills had previously won three of the last five games, including a win over No. 11 Ole Miss.
“We were hoping to give ’em a game,” Head Coach Darin Hendrickson said. “I wasn’t overly ‘wowed’ by either team tonight but they took advantage of everything we gave them. We’ve been struggling defensively and on the mound, but we’re trying to keep our heads up. We have to keep that A-10 race alive. Right now, it’s wide open.”
The Billikens jumped out to a quick lead after plating three runs in the top of the first. Senior shortstop Bennett extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double down the left-field line for the Bills’ first hit of the game. He then scored when Miller singled up the middle, plating Bennett to put the Billikens on top 1-0.
“Going up and putting three runs off the bat against [Kyle]Gibson, who’s going to be a first round pick, you know, we thought it was going to be an Ole Miss game,” Hendrickson said. “We won’t see a pitcher as good as him again this year.”
But the rally would be quickly and utterly squashed.
The Tigers broke the game open with a seven-run second inning, which included three hits and two Billiken errors. Greg Folgia had an RBI single, and Conner Mach was hit by a pitch and Gray walked with the bases loaded for two more runs. Jonah Schmidt poked a two-run single to right, and Kyle Mach lifted a sacrifice fly to left field for the 11-3 Mizzou lead through two innings.
The Tigers never looked back. The Billikens put two runs on the board in the fourth to pull within six.
But the Tigers would answer with a run of their own, and two in the sixth and seventh innings to open up an insurmountable 16-5 advantage through seven innings. Mizzou plated three more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to leave no doubts about their 19-6 victory.
“I think we could have played a little better,” Miller said. “I think we could have kept up with them. We definitely set ourselves back [in the second inning]. But they have a good team at Mizzou and this was a great experience.”
Over 2,100 fans attended the game at Busch; not quite as large as the sellout St. Louis fans are used to seeing when the Cardinals take the field.
But coaches, players, and SLU Athletic Director Chris May expressed hope that a new tradition had been founded between SLU and other regional D-1 schools. The University of Illinois had also been invited to play.
“It was a good opportunity for both universities to play at a great venue like this,” Hendrickson said. “Naturally, we were excited coming in and I would certainly like to see this continue. Who wouldn’t want to play here?”
Saint Louis returns to action this weekend when it hosts Richmond University for a crucial Atlantic 10 Conference series.
The three-game set begins tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Billiken Sports Center.
