(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Laney Kneib pitched out of a seventh-inning jam, and Saint Louis posted a 4-3 victory over UT Martin Tuesday in game two of a doubleheader, giving the Billikens a split of the twinbill.
UT Martin won the opener 7-2.
In the nightcap, Saint Louis (10-8) took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth and saw UTM (9-13-1) plate a run in the sixth and a pair of two-out unearned tallies in the seventh. But Kneib (4-2) got the final out on a ground ball, stranding the potential tying and winning runs.
The Billikens went on top 1-0 in the third. Lindsay Friedman smacked a leadoff triple and, one out later, scored on Brianna Lore’s ground ball to the pitcher. SLU made it 2-0 in the fourth on Alex Nickel’s second home run of the season.
The Bills doubled the margin with two runs in the fifth. Friedman led off with her sixth homer of the year. Kelsey Biggs singled with two away, and Saint Louis loaded the bases when Elizabeth Everingham reached on an error and Nickel delivered an infield single. Biggs scored when the UTM pitcher mishandled Macie Wheeler’s ground ball.
Biggs and Wheeler had two singles apiece, joining Friedman and Nickel as Billikens with two hits. Mackenzie Peter also singled in the Billikens’ nine-hit attack.
UTM struck first in the opener with a run in the second. SLU pulled even in the fourth as Biggs drew a one-out walk, moved to second on Breanna Lockette’s two-out single and scored on Nickel’s single.
After the Skyhawks retaliated by scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 advantage, the Billikens cut the lead in half in the fifth. Peter walked with two outs, advanced to second on Lore’s single and scampered home on Biggs’ infield single.
Unfortunately, that ended the Saint Louis scoring, while UT Martin padded its lead by plating two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Billikens, who stranded 10 runners, loaded the bases in the seventh but did not score.
Lore added a double, Biggs and Nickel had two singles apiece and Peter chipped in a single. Lore (6-6) absorbed the loss in the circle.
Up next for the Billikens is the University of Illinois’ Fighting Illini Classic Friday-Sunday, March 14-16. SLU opens the tournament against Western Michigan Friday at 9:30 a.m. and also will face North Dakota State (twice), Omaha and Illinois.
