MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team clawed back from a six-run early deficit and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the comeback attempt ultimately fell short as the Hawks went down to Saint Louis, 13-10, at Smithson Field on Friday afternoon.
Things did not start well as Saint Louis (34-19 overall, 15-8 Atlantic 10) plated five runs in the top of the first. Michael Bozarth led off the game with a home run, Mike Vigliarolo scored on an error, and Parker Sniatynski hit a three-run home run to give the Billikens a 5-0 lead. SLU then added a run in the second when Vigliarolo hit into a fielder's choice.
Saint Joseph's (21-27 overall, 11-11 Atlantic 10) clawed back into the game in the fourth as Stefan Kancylarz led off with a double, Cal Jadacki singled, and Charlie Coghlin walked. Lansing Veeder followed with his second home run in as many days, a grand slam over the fence in left, to cut the deficit to 6-4.
The Hawks leveled the game in the fifth when, with two outs, Coghlin singled home Deon Stafford and Veeder followed with a double to score Cal Jadacki.
The Billikens went back ahead in the sixth when Sniatynski drew a two-out walk and scored on a double by Jake Henson.
Matt Maul then led off the bottom of the frame with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Boyd, and scored on a throwing error by Braxton Martinez to tie the game at 7-7.
Vigliarolo went deep with two outs in the seventh to restore a one-run lead for the Billikens. In the eighth, Bozarth drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to double the lead before Danny Murphy went deep to left for the game's second grand slam and a 13-7 Saint Louis lead.
The Hawks had one more crack at it in the ninth, as John Brue led off with a walk and Deon Stafford followed with a single. Kancylarz then reached via an error that scored Brue and pushed Stafford to third. Pinch hitter Marc Giacalone followed with a sacrifice fly to score Stafford and cut the deficit to four.
A failed pickoff attempt by Brett Shimanovsky allowed Kancylarz to advance to third; he would then come in to score on an RBI groundout by Coghlin. Veeder then walked and Ryan Pater singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but the Billikens escaped the inning with a ground ball to end the game.
Shimanovsky notched the win, allowing four runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks in three and two-thirds innings to improve to 5-1. Tim McCarthy fell to 0-2 for SJU, allowing three runs on one hit and two hit batsmen in an inning and a third.
The Hawks will host the Billikens in their season finale on Saturday morning. First pitch in the rubber game of the series is set for 11:00 a.m.
