MERION STATION, Pa. – Single runs in each of the first three innings and crooked numbers later on led the Saint Joseph's baseball team to an 18-4 blowout victory over Saint Louis in the first of a three-game Atlantic 10 set at Smithson Field on Thursday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (17-11 overall, 9-1 Atlantic 10) got a pair of sacrifice flies – one by Richard Beggy in the first and one by Joey Gale in the second, to open up a 2-0 lead after two.
 
• With runners on second and third and one out in the third, Jason Janesko tallied an RBI groundout to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
• The Hawks doubled that margin with a three-spot in the fourth.  Alex Venezia led off the inning with a solo home run; later in the frame, Gale reached on an error and Alex Kelsey was hit by a pitch to bring up Blake Primrose, who ripped a double into the left field corner to score both runners and make it a 6-0 lead.
 
• Saint Louis (13-16 overall, 4-6 Atlantic 10) got back into the game with a three-spot of its own in the fifth and a singleton in the sixth, but the Hawks got those runs back and more in the next two frames.  Gale walked to lead off the sixth before Kelsey went deep to the opposite field.  Primrose came up next and added another longball deep to left center; the back-to-back home runs made it a 9-4 game.  Venezia later drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run before Carson Applegate added an RBI single to make it 11-4 in favor of the home team.
 
• The Hawks put the game away emphatically with seven runs in the seventh.  Consecutive doubles by Primrose and Beggy tacked on another run before Joey Pagano and Tim Dickinson walked to load the bases.  Venezia then ripped a ball to the gap in left center to clear the bases and make it a 15-4 game.  A walk to Gale and a second hit-by-pitch of the day for Kelsey reloaded the bases for Primrose, who singled home two more runs before a wild pitch brought home Kelsey with the final tally of the afternoon.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Matt Speicher was the winning pitcher after he allowed a run on three hits in an inning and a third of relief.  Sam Greer finished off the game with three shutout innings and six strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.  Ben Cherico took the loss for SLU, allowing six runs on six hits in five innings.
 
• Carson Magill struck out five and was charged with three runs on four hits in four and two-thirds innings in his first conference start as a Hawk.
 
• Primrose led the way with four hits, three runs scored, and five runs batted in; Venezia also collected five RBI of his own.  Beggy, Venezia, and Applegate turned in two-hit games as well, while Gale and Kelsey also scored three runs apiece.
 
• The Hawks drew 10 walks and were hit by a pitch five times for a total of 15 free passes in the game, while Hawk pitchers only issued four.
 
• The Hawks returned to their early-scoring ways, tallying a first-inning run for the eighth time in 10 conference games.
 
UP NEXT
The series continues at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.