The Billiken baseball team kicked off their season last weekend as part of the Mule Mix Classic in Nashville, Tenn., by dropping three out of their first four games. The team is projected to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The Billikens started the tournament Friday afternoon with an 8-4 loss to the Lipscomb University Bison. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Damian Rivera took the mound for the Billikens and went 5.2 innings, giving up 11 hits and seven earned runs with one strikeout and one walk.
Lipscomb led the entire game, with the Billikens only mounting one major threat in the ninth inning, scoring all four of their runs in the inning.
On Saturday the Billikens split their double-header, first falling 3-2 in 11 innings to Middle Tennessee State, and in the second game rebounding to beat Bowling Green 6-1.
Against Middle Tennessee State, the Billikens drew 11 walks and pounded out nine base hits but were unable ride the strong pitching performance of junior pitcher Alex Alemann, who went 6.1 solid innings and surrendered just three hits and one earned run with three strikeouts and one walk.
The Raiders ended the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the 11th, with the loss for the Billikens going to Steve Jenson, who pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three hits, one earned run and three strikeouts.
In the second game, the Billikens’ offense was on track from the beginning, scoring two runs in the first and a run in each the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Billikens’ pitching staff combined to surrender eight hits but just one run, with six strikeouts to go along. Senior Jerry Mancuso got the win for the Billikens, throwing 3.2 strong innings, with three hits, two strikeouts, no walks and no runs allowed.
The Billikens played their final game of the classic on Sunday against Belmont, looking to carryover their momentum from their previous win against Bowling Green.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. The game started well for the Billikens, who led 2-1 after four innings, but they could not hold the lead as Belmont scored four runs in the fifth to take the lead and ultimately the game.
Despite amassing nine hits to Belmont’s six, the Billikens were done in by three errors, with two coming in the decisive four-run fifth inning for Belmont.
Sophomore Clay Smith was stuck with the loss, despite surrendering just one earned run on three hits in 4.2 innings, with six strikeouts and four walks.
The Billikens look to improve their record this weekend, Feb. 24-26, as they head to down to Winter Haven, Fla., to participate in “The Mount” Tournament against Mount St. Mary’s.
