(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Saint Louis scored a season high 17 runs as the Billikens defeated the SIUE Cougars 17-4. The win moves SLU to 28-12 overall. Matt Eckelman (2-1) gets the win.
The Billikens got started in the second with a five run inning. Braxton Martinez led off with a home run to deep left field, his fourth of the year. Alex King, Colton Frabasilio, Mike Vigliarolo and Jake Henson each added RBI singles to round out the scoring.
SIUE responded with three runs of its own in the fourth to cut the SLU lead to 5-3.
In the fifth, Saint Louis had its best offensive inning of the year, scoring nine runs in the inning. It was the most runs scored in an inning by the Billikens this season. The Bills opened the inning with four consecutive walks. Saint Louis then had three RBI singles and capitalized on two Cougar errors for seven runs. James Morisano drove in a pair with a two-run single to round out the SLU scoring.
The Billikens tacked on another run in the seventh on an RBI double from Morisano.
SIUE tallied a run in the eighth to draw the score to 15-4.
In the ninth, the Billikens put two more runs on the board on a sacrifice fly and a passed ball.
Martinez was SLU’s top performer at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run, a double, an RBI, three walks and four runs scored.
In addition to Martinez, Vigliarolo’s double in the first inning was the 54th of his career, tying the all-time mark at Saint Louis.
Next up for the Billikens is a three-game weekend series at Fordham. First pitch on Friday is set for 5 p.m. (CT).
