EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Playing in its first of five consecutive non-conference games, the SIUE baseball team suffered a 12-3 defeat at the hands of local rival Saint Louis Wednesday night at Simmons Baseball Complex.

The Cougars (18-28) fell behind early as the Billikens raced out to a 6-0 lead after two innings of play.

SIUE got two runs back in the bottom of the third inning, as Denton Reed scored on an error before Devin Caldwell drove a double to center field to score Alec Saikal.

Saint Louis (28-18) got its offense going again in the late innings, however, scoring three runs in the sixth inning, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth.  All 12 of the Billikens' runs were scored with two outs.

Five Cougar pitchers saw the mound, with Zach Malach having the heaviest workload of 3.2 innings.  He allowed three runs on five hits while recording a pair of strikeouts.

SIUE will be on the road this weekend for a three-game series against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.  The Cougars and Wildcats begin play Friday at 3 p.m.