(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
The Billiken baseball team scored six runs in the second inning to top visiting UT Martin 6-5 at the Billiken Sports Center. Freshman Connor Lehmann (1-1) gets the win and junior Thompson Geron (2) gets the save. Saint Louis rises to 13-7 overall.
The Billikens got all their scoring in a big second inning. Braxton Martinez led off with a single and moved to second on a ground out to second. Josh Bunselmeyer walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Parker Sniatynski ripped a single through the right side, scoring Martinez for SLU’s first run. James Morisano was the next batter, and he hit a single to right field, scoring Bunselmeyer and moving Sniatynski to third. Sniatynski then scored on a wild pitch and Morisano moved to second. Another wild pitch moved Morisano to third. Alex King then drew a walk, bringing the top of the order up with one away. Michael Bozarth ripped a bases clearing triple to left center. Bozarth later scored on a sacrifice fly to the catcher in which no one was covering home for UT Martin. The Saint Louis second was six runs on four hits.
The Skyhawks battled all the way back, scoring three runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to cut the SLU lead to one. With the tying run at second and one out in the seventh, Geron entered in relief. He struck out the next two batters to preserve the lead.
Geron retired all eight batters he faced, striking out four, for his second save of the season.
Martinez single in the second extended his hitting streak to 11 games, a new season high for the Billikens.
The Billikens open Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend, March 20-22 when they host Rhode Island at the Billiken Sports Center. First pitch on March 20 is slated for 6 p.m.
