(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
The Billikens completed their third conference sweep of the season with a 5-3 win over Richmond Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Josh Moore (3-1) picked up the win and Matt Eckelman got the save (7). Eckelman is now third on SLU’s single season saves list and second on the career chart (11).
Saint Louis is now 23-14 overall and 11-3 in Atlantic 10 conference play.
Game three picked up where game two left off, with both starting pitchers throwing well. Richmond’s Ryan Cook had a no-hitter going until the seventh inning. He finished with 6.0 IP, one hit, three walks and three strikeouts. Moore threw seven innings, allowing one run, two hits, striking out four and walking four.
Richmond got on the board first in the third inning on a bases loaded ground out to second.
The Billikens collected their first hit of the game in the seventh on a lead off single from Alec Solé. After the hit, the Spiders went to the bullpen and SLU jumped at the opportunity. A hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases with one away. Richmond got a grounder to first and caught Solé at the plate. With the bases loaded and two outs trailing the Spiders 1-0, Michael Bozarth hit a ball to the right side, the Richmond second baseman snagged the grounder, but Bozarth just beat the throw to tie the game at one. Saint Louis then drew another walk and a hit by pitch to score two additional runs. Danny Murphy rounded out the scoring with a two-RBI single up the middle, giving the Bills a 5-1 lead through seven.
Richmond tallied runs in the eighth and ninth, but Eckelman shut the door to seal the win for SLU.
The Billikens had strong pitching all series, tallying a 2.67 ERA, 25 strikeouts, eight walks and 15 hits in 27 innings. Richmond entered the series with a team batting average of .272. Over the series, the Bills held the Spiders to a .160 batting average.
Next up for SLU is a mid-week meeting against the UT Martin Skyhawks in Martin, Tenn. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
