Charlotte Takes Series Finale, 9-1
March 23, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Saint Louis was upended 9-1 in the final game of a three-game set at Charlotte this afternoon at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium. For the third time in as many games SLU was the first to put a run on the scoreboard, but Charlotte reeled off nine unanswered runs to complete a three-game sweep of the Billikens. With the setback, Saint Louis falls to 8-11 overall and 0-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. It ends its season-long eight-game road trip with a 4-4 record. Charlotte, last year's A-10 champs, improves to 17-2 and 3-0 in the league. The game seemed destined for a pitcher's duel early on, as SLU starter Dave Sever (Burr Ridge, Ill./Benet Academy) and his Charlotte counterpart B.J. Hagen seemed in control in the early goings. In fact, neither pitcher yielded a run through the first four innings. Saint Louis, which was the first to score in all three games of the series, put a run on the board in the fifth. Freshman Ramee Yacoub (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) and sophomore Brandon Parsons (Stow, Ohio/Stow Munroe Falls) started the frame with back-to-back singles. The duo advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Bennett (Kansas City, Mo./Rockhurst). Yacoub was dispatched at home on a fielder's choice by sophomore J.D. Dunn (Franklin, Tenn./Centennial), but the bases were loaded after junior Tom Pinnell (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) drew a walk. SLU's next batter, senior Greg Rodgers (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell), drew another walk for his team-high tying 11th RBI of the season and a 1-0 Billiken lead.
However, in the bottom-half of the fifth, the Niners' Alan Burt reached on a bunt single and later scored an unearned run to tie things at 1-1. They broke the tie in the sixth, when Brad McElroy and Chris Taylor cracked back-to-back solo home runs to put Charlotte up 3-1 through six innings. Sever worked around a leadoff walk in the seventh to hold Charlotte scoreless in the inning, but the Niners erupted for six runs on six hits in the eighth to take command. Punctuating the rally was a two-run single by Aaron Bray and a two-RBI double by Shayne Moody. Meanwhile, the Billiken offense was held scoreless by Charlotte reliever Kelly McLain, who earned the win after four shutout innings. He yielded just one Billiken hit down the stretch - a seventh-inning single to Bennett - for his first win of the year. Sever was tagged with the loss after 7-1/3 innings. He allowed five earned runs on 10 hits while striking out four. Offensively for Saint Louis, Bennett had two hits for the second straight game. Dunn, sophomore Mike Beal (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH), sophomore Andrew Guerra (Dallas, Texas/Rice), Yacoub and Parsons had the rest of SLU's seven hits. The Billikens return home this week to begin a six-game homestand at The Billiken Sports Center. On Tuesday, SLU hosts Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Conference in a 2 p.m. tilt. |
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