HOOVER, Ala. – The Miami University baseball team settled down in the later innings after a rough start, but Saint Louis took a 9-1 victory to open the season on Friday.
Saint Louis struck first in the bottom of the first after a double brought in a runner who had been hit by a pitch. The Billikens then added three runs in the bottom of the second and four more in the bottom of the third to take an 8-0 lead.
Miami got on the board in the top of the fourth. Junior first baseman
Charlie Harrigan led off with a double to right center. One batter later, junior shortstop
Will Vogelgesang drove him in with a double to left field. The RedHawks were able to load the bases by drawing a pair of walks, but were unable to bring another run home.
Junior pitcher
Nick Urbantke helped settle things down for Miami as he did not allow another run over his 4.0 innings of relief work in his RedHawk debut. He struck out five.
Saint Louis brought home one unearned run in the bottom of the eighth off an error and a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring.
Vogelgesang finished 2-for-4 with one RBI to lead the RedHawks.
Miami continues its neutral series against Saint Louis Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m. (EST) with game two to follow approximately 45 minutes after its conclusion.
