2008 Woodie Awards
Baseball bats around in the Bronx
Pat McShane
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Sports
The Saint Louis University baseball team had a busy week taking on Fordham in a three-game series in the Bronx, and Southern Illinois in a one-game, wooden-bat classic. In the first game versus Fordham, Billikens pitcher Ryan Bird broke two of the school's pitching records in career strikeouts and innings pitched, but this was not enough to ensure a win.
The Billikens started the game off strong, loading the bases on a Fordham error. Bill Musselman hit a grounder, which was enough for Tom Pinnell to come home, giving the Billikens a 1-0 advantage. The squad held the lead for two innings before Fordham was able to even the score in the third. The fourth inning saw four more runs plated by Fordham to put the lead to 5-1. The fourth inning also saw the Billikens fighting back, with Blake Bratcher slamming a triple to right center field, allowing Musselman, who had reached on an earlier base hit, to come home. After holding the score at 5-2 for two innings, the Billikens started a rally in the seventh. L.J. Watson started the ball rolling with a single to center; he was advanced to second on a grounder by Ryan Bennett, and was sent home with an RBI single to left field by Pinnell. The score remained 5-3 until the eighth inning, when Fordham knocked in two more runs to make the score 7-3. The Billikens rallied in the ninth when Fordham's reliever walked in one run, but it was not enough. The Billikens lost, 7-4.
Game two versus Fordham fared much better for the Billikens. SLU was first on the board for the second straight game, this time in the second inning. Bratcher smacked a double to right field. This was followed with an RBI single to deep right field by Ryan Crespi, allowing Bratcher to score from second. After a quiet bottom of the second, the Billikens struck again in the top of the third. With two outs, the Fordham starter hit Casey Moore, and proceeded to walk the next three batters. After one run already in this inning, B.J. Rodrigue came through with a triple to score three more runs and give the Billikens a 5-0 lead. At the same time, Eric Rohr, the Billikens' starting pitcher, was handling Fordham well, keeping them scoreless until the sixth, when Fordham scored two. In the top of the eighth, the Billikens had a mini-rally. It started with Rodrigue walking and then stealing second. This was followed by an RBI single to left center from Bennett. Pinnell also got on base through a walk, but a double play ended the inning before the Billikens could score again. The Billikens held their lead and won the game, 6-4.
The Billikens started the game off strong, loading the bases on a Fordham error. Bill Musselman hit a grounder, which was enough for Tom Pinnell to come home, giving the Billikens a 1-0 advantage. The squad held the lead for two innings before Fordham was able to even the score in the third. The fourth inning saw four more runs plated by Fordham to put the lead to 5-1. The fourth inning also saw the Billikens fighting back, with Blake Bratcher slamming a triple to right center field, allowing Musselman, who had reached on an earlier base hit, to come home. After holding the score at 5-2 for two innings, the Billikens started a rally in the seventh. L.J. Watson started the ball rolling with a single to center; he was advanced to second on a grounder by Ryan Bennett, and was sent home with an RBI single to left field by Pinnell. The score remained 5-3 until the eighth inning, when Fordham knocked in two more runs to make the score 7-3. The Billikens rallied in the ninth when Fordham's reliever walked in one run, but it was not enough. The Billikens lost, 7-4.
Game two versus Fordham fared much better for the Billikens. SLU was first on the board for the second straight game, this time in the second inning. Bratcher smacked a double to right field. This was followed with an RBI single to deep right field by Ryan Crespi, allowing Bratcher to score from second. After a quiet bottom of the second, the Billikens struck again in the top of the third. With two outs, the Fordham starter hit Casey Moore, and proceeded to walk the next three batters. After one run already in this inning, B.J. Rodrigue came through with a triple to score three more runs and give the Billikens a 5-0 lead. At the same time, Eric Rohr, the Billikens' starting pitcher, was handling Fordham well, keeping them scoreless until the sixth, when Fordham scored two. In the top of the eighth, the Billikens had a mini-rally. It started with Rodrigue walking and then stealing second. This was followed by an RBI single to left center from Bennett. Pinnell also got on base through a walk, but a double play ended the inning before the Billikens could score again. The Billikens held their lead and won the game, 6-4.
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