EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE baseball dropped its first home contest of the year Wednesday falling to Saint Louis 12-3 at Simmons Baseball Complex.
The Cougars are now 8-5 overall and open Ohio Valley Conference play Friday at home against Murray State.
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SLU improved to 11-1 with the win.
The Billikens scored early, tagging SIUE starter A.J. Johnson (0-1) with five runs in the first inning. Johnson, making his first collegiate appearance, lasted just 1/3 of an inning. He allowed three hits and walked two.
"We didn't get the start that we wanted to," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "We weren't able to throw strikes there in the first. The inability to throw strikes early really put us in a hole."
Alex King and Parker Sniatynski each had two RBIs in the inning. Sniatynski added a three-run home run in the third inning to put SLU up 8-0.
"There's a reason they're 11-1 now," Lyons continued. "They have a good lineup. To give them a lead right there in the first is tough to overcome."
The Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a two-out RBI-hit from Keaton Wright to make it 8-1. Jared McCunn made it 8-2 with a solo home run for the Cougars in the fourth inning.
Saint Louis added two runs each in the sixth and the eighth to extend its lead to 12-2.
Dustin Woodcock picked up an RBI-single in the ninth inning for the final margin.
SLU starter Devin Mahoney (3-0) picked up the win in a five-inning start. He allowed two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out eight.
The Cougars used five different pitchers out of the bullpen. Redshirt-freshman Brian Coulter tossed a perfect fourth inning while striking out two. It was the first appearance of his SIUE career.
"That was a bright spot of the night," Lyons said of Coulter's outing. "Brian is a guy who has been working through some things. Tonight he came out and showed that all the hard work is paying off for him. Hopefully his future outings are the same as they were tonight."
SIUE managed just seven hits. Nobody had more than a single hit for the Cougars. Alec Skender reached three times. He was 1 for 3 with two walks. McCunn finished 1 for 2 with the home run and a walk.
"We have to put this one behind us and put our focus on Murray State and have a good practice tomorrow leading into the weekend," Lyons said.
WEEKEND SERIES CHANGE:
Because of forecasted inclement weekend weather, SIUE officials have adjusted the weekend series:
SIUE and Murray State will play a doubleheader Friday with the first pitch of game one slated for 12 noon. The two teams will take Saturday off before resuming the series with a single game Sunday.
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