Baseball Falls in Series Opener at Saint Louis

Box Score
 
Saint Louis' Alec Sole drove in four runs, while Lee Norwood scattered six hits over 6.1 innings of work, as the Billikens defeated the Fordham Rams, 11-1, in the A-10 series opener on Friday at the Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
With the loss, Fordham moves to 21-25 on the year, 11-11 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improved to 29-18 overall, 14-6 in the league.
 
Fordham had the first scoring opportunity in the top of the second inning, as Charles Galiano led off with a double to center, followed by an infield single by Mark Donadio.  Rob McCunney then hit a ground ball to third, which was thrown home and got Galiano trying to score.  The threat then ended as Matthew Kozuch lined into a double play.
 
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, as the Billikens scored three times to take the initial lead.  Danny Brennan started the rally with a one-out double, which was followed by an RBI-triple by Alec Sole, which ended Fordham starter Joseph Serrapica's night.  Fordham reliever Greg Weissert was then greeted with an RBI-double by Mike Vigliarolo and an RBI-single by Braxton Martinez for a 3-0 edge.
 
Saint Louis would not relent in the coming innings, scoring three times in the sixth and seventh innings to extend the lead to 9-0.
 
Fordham broke up the shutout in the top of the eighth, as Tim Swatek singled through the right side and moved to second on a walk to Galiano.  After a fielder's choice put runners at first and second, Joe Calabrese plated pinch-runner Tim O'Connor with a sacrifice fly to center.
 
The Billikens then capped the scoring with a two-run home run by Drew Curtis for the 11-1 win.
 
Serrapica (0-2) took the loss allowing two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts, while Weissert allowed three runs on four hits over 2/3 of an inning.  Jonathan Reich (1 IP, 1 R) and Makay Redd (2 IP, 5 R) also pitched for Fordham.
 
At the plate, Joseph Runco, Galiano, and Donadio each had two hits to lead the Rams' offense.
 
The same two teams will match up for game two on Saturday, beginning at 3:00 PM Eastern