SAUGET, ILL. - Saint Louis extended its winning streak to eight games with an 8-5 win over the Salukis of Southern Illinois. The win brings SLU to 38-15 overall, building upon the record-setting win total.
In the early goings, both teams looked evenly matched. The Billikens scored in the first on a Grant Nelson RBI double to take an early 1-0 lead. However, SIU tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single. Through one, the game was tied at 1-1.
The game remained tied until the fourth innning when the Billiken bats came alive. Junior Alex Kelly led the way with a lead off home run, his eighth of the year, to give SLU a 2-1 lead. Danny Brennan followed with an RBI single to right, C.J. Rose had an RBI single to center, Alec Sole singled through the left side for an RBI and Mike Levine hit a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 6-1 through four.
The Bills added two more in the sixth on a Kelly RBI single to left and a Nelson double off the wall in left field. That brought the score to 8-1 in favor of Saint Louis.
The Salukis came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs of their own to bring the game to a 8-5 tally. However, the Billiken defense held and the bullpen delivered to seal the game.
Senior Zack Smith picks up his third win of the year, throwing five innings with two hits, one run (unearned) and four strikeouts. Jon Levin gets his first save of the year, hurling a scoreless ninth, striking out two.
Saint Louis will now travel to Evanston, Ill. to take on Northwestern for the final series of the regular season. The A-10 regular season champs will wrap out their record-setting campaign on Saturday before heading to the Bronx, N.Y. to play in the Atlantic 10 conference tournament hosted by Fordham.
