April 15
No. 25 Charlotte 3
Saint Louis 0
The nationally ranked and Atlantic 10 leading 49ers lived up to their billing as the best pitching team in the country, blanking the Billikens by a score of 3-0 in the first contest of the three-game series. Boasting a 2.12 team ERA, Charlotte shut down the Billiken offense in the shutout effort. SLU, owners of the second best ERA in the A-10, held their ground behind sophomore Alex Alemann’s seven innings of one-run ball, but were unable to crack 49ers’ starter Andrew Smith, who allowed only three hits in a complete-game shutout performance. The Billikens threatened in the ninth, loading the bases, but were unable to get on the scoreboard.
April 16
No. 25 Charlotte 5
Saint Louis 10
In the second game of the series, the Billiken bats showed no fear against the vaunted Charlotte pitching staff, lighting up the scoreboard in a 10-5 victory. The 10 runs were the most any opponent had scored against Charlotte this season. With the score sitting at 4-2 in favor of the 49ers in the bottom of the fifth, SLU exploded for five runs to take a 7-4 lead. The inning was highlighted by a Connor Gandossy two-run home run. Junior Zach Miller went three of four at the plate, driving in two runs. Junior Marco DiRoma led the Billikens with four RBIs on two hits. Junior Travis Parker was lights-out in relief, throwing two perfect innings.
April 17
No. 25 Charlotte 2
Saint Louis 5
A pair of home runs keyed the Billikens in the rubber match against A-10 leader Charlotte. Senior Jon Myers teed off for his fifth home run of the season to give the Billikens a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. SLU locked up the game in the eighth inning when they pushed across two more runs. Senior Nick Becker hit a rare inside-the-park homerun, and freshman Danny Brennan roped a double down the left field line to put the game out of reach. Zack Smith gave the Billikens a strong outing on the mound, going six innings and surrendering only two runs. The win lifted SLU to 4-5 in the A-10 and 22-16 overall.
April 21
Saint Louis 1
St. Bonaventure 5
The Bonnies put SLU in a hole early, jumping out to an early three run lead, and the Billiken offense was never able to catch up. Alex Alemann got off to a shaky start, allowing a three-run homerun in the first inning, his first of the year. He recovered by holding St. Bonaventure scoreless until the sixth inning. Once again, the Billikens threatened in the ninth with singles by Cody Cotter and Connor Gandossy, but were unable to do any damage. Jerry Mancuso pitched three strong innings of relief for SLU, allowing only one earned run.
April 22
Saint Louis 2
St. Bonaventure 3
Jon Myers got the Billikens off to a quick start against the Bonnies with an RBI single in the first, but the runs remained few and far between for SLU in the first game of the doubleheader. Behind Zack Smith’s pitching performance, the Billikens upped their lead to two runs in the fourth behind a Marco DiRoma sacrifice fly. Smith held the Bonnies hitless throughout the first five innings but ran into a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. The score remained 2-0 in favor of SLU until the eighth inning until St. Bonaventure tallied the deciding three runs.
April 22
Saint Louis 3
St. Bonaventure 8
SLU surrendered an early lead to the Bonnies when freshman Brett Vanover yielded two runs in the second inning. The score remained 2-0 until the fifth inning when the Billikens came roaring back. Cody Cotter roped a double down the right field line to tie the game at two a piece. Cotter paced the Billikens on offense, knocking three hits and two RBIs. The SLU pitching staff could not contain the St. Bonaventure offense for the remainder of the game, however, surrendering two runs a piece in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. All four pitchers head coach Darin Hendrickson sent to the mound allowed at least one run. The loss dropped the Billikens to 22-18 overall and 4-10 in conference play.
