ARLINGTON, Va. – [BOX SCORE] It was a day to remember in Arlington, Va. Saint Louis Billiken baseball plated five runs in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship game and received three dominant pitching performances to grab a 5-0 victory over George Mason and an A-10 Tournament Championship.
Saint Louis (38-18) put together a strong offensive effort beginning in the second inning. Alex King doubled to get things started which put a runner in scoring position with just one away. After a Carter Hanford walk, Aaron Case knocked-in the first run for the Billikens to make it 1-0.
The Saint Louis bats went quiet through the next two innings, but found their groove in the fifth. Kyle Fletcher contributed a one-out single to set the table for a big inning. With two outs on the board, Nick Reeser singled prior to a Jake Garella RBI single to put the Billikens up 2-0.
Parker Sniatynski singled on the next at-bat before Alex King was hit on the arm with a pitch to plate the third run as the Billikens inched closer to an NCAA Regional Berth.
Saint Louis plated another in the sixth as the offense showed patience at the plate. With two outs already recorded in the inning, Fletcher and Dubet ripped back-to-back singles to put two on for Reeser. The senior first baseman walked, and Garella followed with a free pass of his own to put the team in blue up 4-0.
Case finished things off on the offensive end for the Billikens on Saturday. The senior hit his second home run of the year, a solo blast in the eighth as Saint Louis put an exclamation point on the win.
Drew Reveno was brilliant on Saturday and grabbed his 10th win of the season. The junior from San Jose was named MVP of the Tournament after turning-in a seven-inning outing and allowing no runs on just three hits with seven strikeouts. The right-handed pitcher recorded a career-high in innings pitched, number of pitches thrown (100) and strikeouts.
Fletcher, Garella, Reeser and Case all finished with a two-hit afternoon as Ryan Lefner and Luke Summerfeld both tossed an inning of no-hit relief.
At the conclusion of the game, Reveno, King, Sniatynski and Reeser were all named to the All-Tournament team. Saint Louis’ tournament victory was its first since 2013 as the team will head back to NCAA Championship play.
The NCAA will announce the regional host sites, as chosen by the NCAA Selection Committee, on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The full field and Bracket Selection Show will be broadcast on ESPNU on Monday, May 28 at 11:00 a.m. CDT.
Saint Louis Athletics will host a watch party for the selection show on Monday beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Vito’s Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante on Lindell Blvd.
