(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis claimed its fourth-consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship with a 13-10 win over Saint Joseph’s. The Billikens hit four home runs in the contest. It is the most home runs the Billikens have hit in a contest since hitting five against Rhode Island on March 21 of this season. Sophomore Brett Shimanovsky (5-1) gets the win as the Billikens rise to 34-19 overall and 15-8 in Atlantic 10 games.
With one game remaining in the Atlantic 10 schedule, the Billikens are locked in to the one seed in next week’s Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. SLU has one game over Davidson, Richmond and Rhode Island. In the regular season, the Billikens won the series over Davidson (two games to one) and Rhode Island (two games to one). SLU did not play Richmond, but has a 9-6 record against common opponents (Davidson, Fordham, La Salle, UMass and Rhode Island) while Richmond is currently 6-8 (Spiders play Davidson tomorrow).
In the event of a three-way tie, the Billikens hold the tiebreakers with a SLU/URI/UR tie with a 7-2 record against common opponents (Davidson, La Salle and UMass) while Rhode Island is 4-4 (playing La Salle tomorrow) and Richmond is 2-6. The Billikens also hold the tiebreaker in the event of a SLU/URI/DAV tie with SLU recording a 4-2 record over tied teams (Rhode Island is 3-3 and Davidson is 2-4).
The Billikens scored early and often against Saint Joe’s. Michael Bozarth led off the game with a solo shot, his second of the series and fourth of the year. Later in the first, Parker Sniatynski lifted a three-run blast, his second of the year. Through one, Saint Louis led 5-0.
Mike Vigliarolo reached on a fielder’s choice in the second, but Alex King scored, giving SLU a 6-0 lead through two innings.
The Hawks mounted a comeback in the fourth with a grand slam to cut the lead to 6-4.
Saint Joe’s then plated a pair in the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.
In the sixth, Jake Henson laced a two-out RBI double down the left field line, scoring Sniatynski and giving SLU the 7-6 lead. However, the Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
SLU regained the lead in the seventh on a Vigliarolo solo shot to left. It was his fourth homer of the year and extended his on-base streak to 41 games.
The offense continued in the eighth with a bases loaded walk from Michael Bozarth, followed by a grand slam from Danny Murphy, his second home run of the year. Heading to the ninth, the Billikens led 13-7.
The Hawks rallied in the ninth, plating three runs, but fell short as Saint Louis escaped with a 13-10 win.
The Billikens and Hawks will meet for the series finale tomorrow in Philadelphia, Pa. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. (CT) with Josh Moore starting for the Bills.
