(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics; Photo Credit: Mick Lite)
Saint Louis senior pitcher Clay Smith (6-0) threw six shutout innings to help the Billikens defeat La Salle 11-1 at the Billiken Sports Center. The Bills rise to 23-12 overall and 6-3 in Atlantic 10 Conference games.
Smith threw 6.0 innings, allowing five runs and two walks while striking out five. The win was his sixth of the season and the 22nd of his career. Smith moves to second on the all-time pitcher wins list at SLU. He trails Alex Alemann (27) in the Billiken record book.
Saint Louis scored three times in the second inning on five La Salle errors.
In the third inning, Josh Bunselmeyer drove in Mike Vigliarolo from third to bring the score to 4-0.
The Billikens plated five more runs in the fifth. Vigliarolo had an RBI single through the left side. Jake Henson followed up with an RBI double down the left field line. The next hitter, Bunselmeyer drove in Vigliarolo and Henson with a two-run single up the middle. Alex King rounded out the Billiken scoring on an RBI single to right.
Danny Mannion opened scoring in the seventh on an RBI single to right center. Later in the inning,Joey Salerno scored on a wild pitch for SLU’s 11th run of the game.
La Salle got on the board in the eighth inning, but Saint Louis held the Explorers to one and walked away with an 11-1 victory.
Mannion and Vigliarolo lead the way at the plate for the Billikens. Vigliarolo went 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Mannion also was 3-4 with one run and two RBIs. Bunselmeyer led the team with three RBIs.
Next up for Saint Louis is a mid-week showdown against Rockhurst. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on April 15.
