(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
The Saint Louis Billikens were out-hit by the Eastern Illinois Panthers 14-8 as SLU was defeated 9-7 in Charleston, Ill. Freshman RHP Zach Girrens (0-2) was tabbed with the loss as Saint Louis falls to 14-9 overall.
The Bills opened the scoring with a big second inning. Danny Brennan ripped a two-RBI single through the right side for SLU’s first two runs. Michael Bozarth later drew a bases loaded walk to give Saint Louis an early 3-0 lead.
Saint Louis scored three more runs in the third. Danny Mannion was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the first run of the frame. Alec Solé drew a walk in the next at bat for the second run. A throwing error by EIU in the next at bat gave SLU its third run of the inning and sixth of the game.
Eastern Illinois responded with three runs in the third, one run in the fourth and another run in the sixth to draw the score to 6-5 in favor of the Billikens.
In the seventh, Josh Bunselmeyer came off the bench and delivered an RBI single through the right side on the first pitch he saw. However, EIU answered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning, bringing the score to 7-6.
The Panthers took the lead in the eighth, scoring three runs and drawing the score to its final of 7-9.
Next up for the Billikens is a weekend series against Atlantic 10 foe George Washington. The three-game series is set to take place at the Billiken Sports Center. Game one is on March 28 at 6 p.m. with junior RHP James Norwoodexpected to start.
