PREVIEW
Milwaukee:
The Billikens and Milwaukee last met in the 2004 season with SLU taking two of three from the Panthers. The two squads will meet again this weekend at the Billiken Sports Center on April 12-14.
Milwaukee is led at the plate by Michael Porcaro. He hits .378 with a .551 slugging and a .426 on-base. He leads the Panthers with eight doubles and three triples. On the bump, Jake Long has been a force. He has a 4-2 record with an impressive 1.68 ERA. In 48.1 innings of work this season, he has allowed a mere three extra base hits.
LIVE STATS
All Billiken home games will have live stats published at slu.statbroadcast.com. Additionally, if using a tablet or other mobile device, slustats.com will feature mobile optimization of the stat feed.
LAST TIME OUT
The Billikens completed the season sweep of SIUE, topping the Cougars 7-5 at the Billiken Sports Center. The contest was the 208th game of senior second baseman Mike Levine's career, making him the school record-holder at Saint Louis. In his four-years at Saint Louis, he has only missed one game.
WALK LIKE A BILLIKEN
Entering the week, SLU had drawn 160 walks in 2013, most in the Atlantic 10 and 19th nationally. Alex Kelly and Grant Nelson are tied for fourth in the A-10 with 20 walks drawn. Three Billikens have more walks than strikeouts this season.
Since head coach Darin Hendrickson took over in 2008, the Billikens have ranked in the top three of the Atlantic 10 in walks drawn in each season. They led the league with 268 walks in 2012, which ranked 19th in the NCAA.
DOING YARD WORK
Saint Louis has hit 19 home runs this season, most in the A-10. Alex Kelly is tied for the conference lead with five homers followed closely by Braxton Martinez with four (tied for fourth in A-10). In the A-10, only 16 players have three or more home runs this season. Four Billikens have accomplished the feat so far.
LEADING IN LONGEVITY
Senior RHP Alex Alemann is the NCAA's active leader in career games started (54) and career innings pitched (358.1), while ranking third in career victories (26). His 237 career strikeouts are 23rd among all Division I pitchers and his nine complete games are 15th. Senior 2B Mike Levine is eighth in games played with 208.
BULLPEN BULLIES
The Billiken bullpen has had a terrific season thus far. Six different pitchers have made 12 or more appearances and five separate hurlers have recorded saves. On the season, the Bills have 121.2 innings in relief with 106 hits, 36 earned runs and 101 strikeouts to 53 walks. The pen has a combined 2.66 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.
#ObscureStatOfTheWeek
Billiken 1B Mike Vigliarolo has stolen three bases this season, all against left-handed pitching
SACRIFICING FOR THE TEAM
Saint Louis is 10th in the nation in sacrifice flies with 22 this season. Senior Mike Levine leads the team with five and is tied for the 25th most in the nation this season. In his career, Levine has 18 sac flies, putting him fourth among active NCAA players.
STREAKING THROUGH THE SEASON
Alex Kelly has the longest on-base streak of the season at 17 games, the eighth longest streak of the season in the A-10. Only two opponents have kept Kelly off base this season (Oral Roberts and South Dakota State). Kelly and Grant Nelson share the longest active on-base streak of 14 games. Mike Levine holds the longest hitting streak of the season at 11 games, a streak that is still active.
FILLING UP THE SCOREBOARD
The Billikens score 6.8 runs per game, the 26th-best average in the NCAA. At this pace, the Billikens will score 374 runs this season (55 games), which would be the fifth-highest total in SLU history.
KING OF THE HILL
Senior RHP Alex Alemann picked up the win against Western Michigan on March 1, marking the 23rd victory of his career, a Billiken record. He surpassed Saint Louis great Dave Sever's 22 career wins. Alemann is scattered throughout the career record book. He can be found in the all-time top ten in strikeouts, innings pitched, games started and complete games.
WINNING ON THE WEEKEND
Saint Louis is one of five teams in the NCAA that returned 20 or more pitcher wins to the weekend rotation from last season. Senior RHP Alex Alemann (7-2), junior RHP Clay Smith (7-2) and sophomore RHP Nick Bates (6-1) combined for 20 victories in 2012. The only other schools to match this feat are Florida State (25 wins), Louisville (22), North Carolina (22) and Georgia Tech (20).
TURNING TWO
Senior 2B Mike Levine has been a defensive stalwart for the Bills in his career. Since joining the team in 2010, Saint Louis has lead the A-10 in double plays turned. Additionally, two of the top three single-season assist totals have come from Levine. The only player to have more assists in a single season than Levine: his double play partner, Alec Solè, who set the record last season with 197 assists.
MARTINEZ NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Braxton Martinez was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week on April 8 after leading the Bills to a series sweep of Butler. He hit .500 with a .550 on-base percentage and a .812 slugging on the week. Martinez is one of the top freshman hitters in the A-10 and leads all rookies in average, on-base and slugging.
KELLY NAMED A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alex Kelly earned weekly honors on March 25 for his efforts the week ending March 24. Kelly opened conference play with a bang, leading SLU to a sweep of defending A-10 tournament champion Dayton. Against the Flyers, he was 5-12 with two doubles, a home run and eight RBIs. Additionally, Kelly had a home run and three RBIs against in-state foe Southeast Missouri State.
NELSON EARNS CONFERENCE ACCOLADE
Grant Nelson was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for the week ending March 10. Nelson helped lead the Billikens to wins over San Diego and Michigan in the University of San Diego Tournament. In five games, he hit .467 with a .619 on-base percentage and a .533 slugging percentage. Against powerhouse San Diego, Nelson went two-for-three against All-America pitcher Michael Wagner
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Saint Louis was selected by the coaches of the Atlantic 10 Conference as the preseason favorites. Multiple publications also have projected the Billikens to win the A-10 this season. Additionally, the Bills are receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball national poll. College Baseball Daily ranked the Billikens no. 15 in its mid-major poll.
BILLS RETURN FROM RECORD-SETTING 2012
The Billikens return seven starters and the entire weekend rotation from a squad that won a school-record 41 wins a year ago. The team will be led at the plate by the senior trio of OF Alex Kelly, 2B Mike Levine and 3B/C Grant Nelson. Kelly was the team's top offensive threat in 2012, leading the team in average (.326), home runs (8), slugging percentage (.487) and RBIs (41). Nelson will look to build off of his impressive 2012 season, where he hit .314 with a .429 slugging percentage and a .409 on-base percentage. Levine will contribute defensively as well as at the plate, where he had a team-best 14 doubles a year ago.
HEAD COACH DARIN HENDRICKSON
Darin Hendrickson entered his sixth season with a career record of 492-227 at NCAA four-year institutions (157-127 at Saint Louis). Entering the 2013 season, his career win percentage was .684, ranking him tenth among active NCAA Division I head coaches. Hendrickson is the reigning Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after leading the Billikens to a school-record 41 wins and a A-10 Regular Season Co-Championship.
UPCOMING MILESTONES
2B Mike Levine is 13 doubles away from most on all-time list (54, Adam Gabris)
2B Mike Levine is one start away from tying most starts all-time (203, Pat Conreaux)
LHP Jon Levin is nine appearances away from tying all-time mark (84, John Moriarty)
LHP Jon Levin is three saves away from third all-time (8, Chad Tayton/B.J. Rodrigue)
RHP Alex Alemann is two starts away from most all-time (56, Ryan Bird)
RHP Alex Alemann is 13 strikeouts from fourth all-time (250, Ben Hutton)
SS Alec Solé is 42 assists away from 10th all-time (355, Pat Steinhoff)
