April 5, 2011

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball's winning streak came to end at five games Tuesday night, as the Cougars fell 10-5 to Saint Louis at SimmonsCooper Complex.

The Cougars fell to 10-16 with the loss.

"We didn't look very inspired," SIUE Head Coach Gary Collins said. ""Their pitcher made us look like we were bad hitters."

SLU starter Damian Rivera tossed six innings of one-hit baseball to win his first collegiate game. He struck out four.

SLU, 19-10, wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard. Cody Cotter led off the game with a home run to right against SIUE starter Ryan Daniels to make it 1-0.

SIUE tied the game in the second inning. Devin Caldwell led off with a double then scored on a sacrifice fly by Chase Green.

The Billikens pushed their lead to 4-1 with a three-run third inning. They scored twice more in the fifth to make it 6-1, chasing Daniels from the game.

Daniels, 0-4, allowed six six runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two. SLU made it 9-1 with three runs on four hits against Cougars' reliever Jake Stauffenberg in the seventh inning.

Stauffenberg pitched 4 1/3 innings in relief of Daniels, allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits. He struck out two.

"We would have liked to get by with one pitcher and won the game," Collins said.

The Cougars got a pinch-hit RBI-double from Matt Highland in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-2. Green scored on the play after walking one batter earlier and advancing to second on a balk. It was 10-2 when Zach Hawkins drove home two with a double in the eighth inning.

The Cougars added a run on an error, but left the bases loaded when the game ended.

The Cougars managed just five hits against a total of five Billiken pitchers. Caldwell finished the night 2 for 4. Hawkins was 1 for 4 with the double. Highland was 1 for 1. Travis Becherer had the only other hit, a bunt single in the ninth inning.

"It's hard to win when you only get five hits," Collins said.

The Billikens were led by Jon Myers who finished 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs.

The Cougars return to action Wednesday with a 6 p.m. game at Evansville. That game can be heard on 88.7 FM WSIE and online at webradio.siue.edu.