Saint Louis Scores 3 In The 8th Again, Defeats SBU In The 9th

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. – For the second straight game, the Saint Louis baseball team (32-15, 13-7 Atlantic 10 Conference) scored three runs in the 8th inning to erase a deficit and then defeated St. Bonaventure (18-21, 6-11 A-10) in the bottom of the 9th to earn a 6-5 triumph Saturday afternoon.

The Bonnies took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 8th before the Billikens rallied off Bona starter Eddie Gray and reliever Jason Radwan. Saint Louis entered the 8th inning in Friday's series opener trailing 4-2 before it tallied three runs to record a 5-4 victory. SLU then won the game with a walk-off single after the Bonnies were able to tie the contest in the top half of the 9th.

Junior Billy Urban went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored out of the third spot in the lineup to pace the SBU offensive attack, which collected six hits on the day against the league's best pitching staff.

Gray, who was ejected in the top of the 8th, left with another no-decision – his third in row – after tossing 7 innings, scattering seven hits and allowing four runs, three of which were earned. The southpaw struck out three and walked four as he threw 116 pitches on an 85-degree, humid afternoon.

Radwan (3-4) took the loss as he pitched 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and two runs. The right-hander entered from second base with runners on first and second in the top of the 8th.

The Billikens won despite making four errors, leading to four of the five Bonaventure runs allowed being unearned. SLU entered the game as the A-10's best-fielding team (97.1 fielding percentage).

Saint Louis jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning and made that lead stand up until the 6th inning when the Bonnies plated two to take a 2-1 advantage.

Austin Ingraham plated the first SBU run with a sacrifice fly to center to score Urban, who led off with a single to left. Ryan Skellie – who had reached via an error – scored the second run after strike three to Nick Brennen was a wild pitch, allowing Skellie to advance home from third base.

SLU got one run back in the bottom of the frame, but the Bonnies responded with a tally in the 8th, and once again it was due to a SLU error – this time allowing Ingraham to reach on a mistake by the shortstop and plating Radwan, who began the inning with a single.

The two SBU runs in the top of the 9th were once again helped by SLU fielding errors. Brennen plated the first run after sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away, and Radwan drove home the tying run with a sacrifice fly to center.

St. Bonaventure will look to salvage the final game of the series against the Billikens on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern.