Feb. 20, 2007

At the Plate: Saint Louis (0-3) travels to Central Arkansas for a three-game series against the Cardinals this weekend. Play begins at 1 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 23, with 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday as well.

Last Week: The Billikens opened the season at Troy last weekend, dropping all three games to the Trojans. SLU got solid starting pitching in the first two games of the series but could not get the offense going in 5-0 and 5-1 losses on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Sunday brought bigger bats for the Billikens but the Trojans broke a 9-9 tie in the bottom of the ninth to claim the 10-9 victory.

The Central Arkansas Series: The Cardinals lead the series 1-0 with an 11-6 victory in Conway, Ark., on Mar. 17, 1995.

Scouting Cardinals: Central Arkansas is 1-3 this season with its lone win a 9-4 decision over Arkansas-Little Rock. Matt Warren is the leading hitter early in the season with a .538 average, while Grant Gatlin has a team-high four RBI. Brandon Dunn had the best start for the pitching staff as he has a 3.00 ERA in his lone start this season. As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .267 and have scored 5.5 runs per game. The pitching staff has an 8.45 ERA and has allowed opponents to hit .301. Head coach Doug Clark is in his fifth season at UCA with a 121-92 career record.

What About Bob? Now in his 19th season at Saint Louis, Billiken head coach Bob Hughes has a 348-598-1 record after guiding the 2006 team to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1966. The 2006 squad posted a school-record 32 wins and claimed the Atlantic 10 Tournament title in SLU's first year in the league after entering the event as the fifth seed. During his tenure at SLU, 14 Billikens have gone on to play professionally. While signing quality athletes, Hughes also has brought quality students into the program. Saint Louis won Conference USA's Sport Academic award with the highest GPA of any conference baseball team in the league all 10 years SLU was in the conference. In 2003, Hughes was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

Historic 06: Saint Louis wrapped up an historic 2006 campaign in the NCAA Tournament's Fullerton Regional. The Billikens stormed through their first Atlantic 10 Tournament to reach the championship game and brought home the title with a heroic ninth inning that included three-run home runs from Bill Musselman and Jon Guyre. It was SLU's first conference title and NCAA Tournament berth since 1966, and the Billikens posted a school-record 32 wins.

Predicting the Atlantic 10: After being picked to finish 11th in the 2006 preseason poll, Saint Louis will play with more of a target on its back this year as the A-10 coaches predicted the Billikens to finish second in the 2007 league race. The new expectations are likely the product of the Billikens returning their entire starting pitching rotation and a bulk of their top hitters. SLU was picked to finish behind Charlotte and just ahead of Rhode Island. St. Bonaventure and Dayton rounded out the preseason top five.

R&B: Junior infielder Ryan Bennett (Kansas City, Mo./Miami (Ohio)) recorded three putouts as the starting shortstop in the season opener at Troy.

Bird's Eye View: Senior right-hander Ryan Bird (Potomac, Ill./Armstrong Township) fanned three and yielded just one run in five innings in the second game at Troy ... was named second-team All-Conference, first-team Academic All-America and Academic All-Conference last season ... led the team with a 2.75 ERA, ninth-best in the A-10 and eighth-lowest in SLU history ... collected eight wins, ranking him third in school history ... set a school record with a league-leading 124-1/3 innings pitched while also setting the school record with 18 starts ... led the team and ranked second in the A-10 with 100 strikeouts, the second-most in school history ... ranks fifth in SLU history with 227 career strikeouts.

B.B. King: Junior outfielder Blake Bratcher (Goodlettsville, Tenn./Volunteer State CC) made his debut in the series opener at Troy, playing left field ... singled and scored a run in the Troy series finale.

Dapper Dan: Senior right-hander Dan Cowsert (St. Louis, Mo./SWIC) come out of the bullpen in the series finale at Troy, yielding a run on three hits.

Extra Crespi: Senior outfielder Ryan Crespi (Sparta, N.J./Sussex County CC) added a double and scored a run in the series finale at Troy ... had a .298 average to go with 28 RBI last season ... played in 60 games, second-most in school history, starting a school-record 59 ... led the team and tied for fourth in the A-10 with five triples, sixth-most in school history ... ranked among the A-10's top 10 with 71 hits ... set the school record with 238 at-bats.

Well Dunn: Freshman outfielder J.D. Dunn (Franklin, Tenn./Centennial) started in center field in the season opener at Troy.

Making His Mark: Senior outfielder Mark Hankes (Granite City, Ill./Granite City) started two of the three games at Troy ... played in 21 games, including nine starts, last season.

Brock Steady: Senior right-hander Brock Hewitt (Boerne, Texas/Trinity) took the loss in the second game at Troy in three innings of relief ... recorded a 5.64 ERA with a 3-6 record and one save in 12 starts and five relief appearances last season.

M-M Good: Sophomore infielder Matt Mach (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS) hit his first career home run to drive in a career-high-tying three runs in the series finale at Troy ... hit .233 with 11 RBI in 31 games, including 24 starts.

The G.M.: Senior infielder Gilbert Marlowe (Glendale, Mo./SWIC) started all three games at Troy at first base ... recorded a pair of hits, including a double, in the second game against the Trojans ... recorded a .276 average to go with 27 RBI last season ... ranked third in the A-10 with 34 walks.

Moore Power: Senior catcher/infielder Casey Moore (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Wentzville Holt) was the starting third baseman for all three games at Troy, recording a hit in each game ... launched a two-run homer in the series finale against the Trojans ... plated the only run in the second game of the Troy series ... hit .261 with 18 RBI, including 13 in A-10 play, with 21 starts and 10 appearances off the bench last season.

A Little Moore Power: Sophomore infielder Ziggy Moore (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Wentzville Holt) recorded four hits in the three-game series at Troy, recording at least one hit in each game of the series ... drove in two runs on two hits in the series finale at Troy ... posted a .245 average with 23 RBI last season.

Deuces Wild: Senior right-hander Eric Mueller (Columbia, Mo./Hickman) took the loss in the series finale at Troy, yielding an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth ... had a 5.14 ERA and an 0-3 record in 13 relief appearances last season.

Mussel Beach: Senior catcher Bill Musselman (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic) added two RBI in the series finale at Troy ... smacked a pair of doubles in the second game against the Trojans ... was named first-team All-Conference last season ... led the team and ranked ninth in the A-10 with a .344 average to go with 27 RBI ... threw out a league-best 26 potential base stealers.

Pinpoint: Sophomore infielder Tom Pinnell (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team last season ... hit .239 with 18 RBI.

Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood: Junior designated hitter/infielder Greg Rodgers (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles CC) scored a run in the series finale at Troy ... singled in the second game against the Trojans ... was named first-team All-Conference last season ... finished second on the team with a .338 average and started a school-record 59 games ... ranked third in the A-10 with a team-high 56 RBI, eighth-most in school history ... led the team with five home runs and was second in doubles with 14 ... ranked sixth in the A-10 in hits (76) and fifth in walks (32) ... is among the program's top 10 in single-season hits (5th), doubles (10th), at-bats (5th, 225) and games played (2nd, 60).

On the Bayou: Junior pitcher/third baseman B.J. Rodrigue (Destrehan, La./Brother Martin) had a pinch hit single in the seventh inning of the series finale at Troy ... had a 4.18 ERA and a 3-3 record with two saves on the mound and played 20 games, including 14 starts, at third base last season.

Rip Rohr-ing: Senior right-hander Eric Rohr (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) struggled in his first start, giving up seven runs in 5-2/3 innings but did not figure into the decision in the series finale at Troy ... had a 3.03 ERA, 10th-best in school history, to go with a 5-2 record in 10 starts and three relief appearances last season ... was 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in league play.

Pennant Sever: Sophomore right-hander Dave Sever (Burr Ridge, Ill./Benet Academy) struck out three and scattered seven hits in starting the season opener at Troy ... was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team last season ... had a 4.40 ERA and a 7-3 record in 16 appearances, including 13 starts ... ranked seventh in the A-10 with seven wins, tied for the SLU freshman record, and 10th in the league in innings pitched with 92.

Word to the Wise: Senior right-hander Justin Wise (St. Louis, Mo./South Alabama) tossed a 1-1/3 innings of relief in the series ifnale at Troy ... had a 1-1 record in 11 appearances, including three starts, last season.

Catching Some Zs: Sophomore left-hander Mark Zielinski (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet) recorded the first out in the eighth inning of the series finale at Troy ... took a redshirt year last season.

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