Saint Joseph's eliminated from A-10 tournament in 6-0 loss to Saint Louis

PBR - With its third game in less than 24 hours, Saint Joseph's stalled out against top-seeded Dayton in the final game of an impressive run through the A-10 Tournament this week, losing 6-0 to the Billikens Friday night at Houlihan Park in Bronx, N.Y.

With some excellent starting pitching, the Hawks (25-32) were able to hang around much longer than most expected being a lower seed. However, come tournament time, days of rest are not on your side, and the back end of the rotation has to set up.

It was Hawks sophomore pitcher Jordan Carter that was put to the test.

To start, Carter put two Billikens on right away before dodging a jam and ultimately surviving the inning unscathed. Carter would finish the night after 4 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in the loss.

Saint Louis (41-17) did put three runs on the board, however, over the second and third innings when catcher Connor Gandessy and Alec Sole added back-to-back RBI singles, then junior outfielder Alex Kelly hit a double in the fourth and scored on the next at-bat to give the Billikens a 3-0 advantage.

Lansing Veeder took the hill in relief of Carter, who stranded Kelly at second. Kelly would eventually score on a single from first basemen Mike Vigliarolo for a 4-0 lead for Saint Louis.

The Billikens, who will face Richmond in the next round, added two more runs in the ninth inning.

Out of the bullpen, Mike Muha,Tim Ponto and Jimmy Yacabonis made appearance for the Hawks.

Saint Louis starter Clay Smith was superb, throwing a three-hit shutout with four strikeouts.

Offensively, the only Hawks to register hits off Smith were Brian O'Keefe and Brett Tiagwad, who went 2-for-3 on the night.