The SLU Billikens celebrate head coach Darin Hendrickson’s 1000th career win, Friday afternoon at the Billiken Sports Complex. (Photo courtesy: SLU Athletics)
| NCAA Baseball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Mason (19-24) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| SLU (31-11) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 8 | 2 |
WP: Jack Weber – SLU (3-0) L: Owen Stewart – GMU (1-3) SV: Ethan Bell – SLU (6)
Jason Barnes
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — The Saint Louis University baseball team enjoyed a historic day on Friday, as head coach Darin Hendrickson earned his 1000th career victory in a 4-3 win over George Mason at the Billiken Sports Complex.
Hendrickson, who is Saint Louis’ winningest head coach, eclipsed 500 wins as the Billiken head coach earlier this season, and has been a college baseball coach for more than three decades. 29 of those years has been as a head coach, which includes stints at Fontbonne, St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, and Central Missouri State, which is where he coached before coming to SLU.
In that time, many of Hendrickson’s teams have won conference, divisional, and/or regional championships, including a stretch from 2012-2015, when Saint Louis won four straight Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championships.
The 2018 season may have been the program’s best. The Billikens won both the A-10 regular season and tournament championships. Hendrickson was named A-10 Coach of the Year. And the team advanced to the final round of the NCAA Regionals in Oxford, Miss.
Similar accomplishments may be possible for SLU this season.
With Friday’s win, the Billikens are now 31-11 on the year and 11-5 in conference play. Friday’s win also allowed the team to re-claim first place in the A-10 standings. Longtime rival Dayton is in second place with a 30-17 overall record and a 12-6 mark in league play.
SLU will have to keep playing well this weekend against George Mason to maintain its slim edge in the standings.
In Friday’s series opener, it was the visiting Patriots who controlled the action most of the day. The visitors grabbed the lead with two runs in the top of the second inning off SLU starting pitcher Jackson Holmes.
But the Billikens rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the third, following a pair of RBI base hits by Drew Winters and Cole Smith. George Mason re-took the lead in the top of the sixth when a pair of base hits and a wild pitch put runners on second and third, before an RBI ground out drove in the go-ahead run.
SLU answered right back though in the bottom half, when Hayden Moore doubled home Knox Preston to tie the score at 3.
The game-winning rally came in the bottom of the seventh, when Winters led off with a single, then advanced to third on a balk and a wild pitch. With one out, he scored on a hit by Easton Richter that put the Billikens up 4-3.
From there, Saint Louis turned to its closer Ethan Bell, who shut down George Mason in the final two innings. The senior from Cave Creek, Ariz., only allowed one base runner (on a hit by pitch) and struck out three and he got the final six outs to earn his team-leading sixth save of the season.
Junior Jack Weber (3-0) got the win for SLU, while George Mason’s Owen Stewart (1-3) took the loss.
SLU and George Mason will play Game 2 of their series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Logo | Team | Inning | Play Description | GMU | SLU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | MASON | 2nd | Reece Woody grounded out to 1b unassisted, RBI; James Quinn- advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by 1b, unearned; Ben Jones scored, unearned. | 2 | 0 |
 | SLU | 3rd | WINTERS singled through the right side, RBI; SITZMAN advanced to third; PRESTON scored. | 2 | 1 |
| SLU | 3rd | SMITH, C singled, advanced to second on a throwing error by rf, RBI; WINTERS advanced to third; SITZMAN scored. | 2 | 2 |
| MASON | 6th | Connor Dykst grounded out to 2b, RBI; Jake Butler advanced to third; Reece Woody scored. | 3 | 2 |
| SLU | 6th | MOORE doubled to left field, RBI; PRESTON scored. | 3 | 3 |
| SLU | 7th | RICHTER singled to right field, RBI; WINTERS scored. | 3 | 4 |
SAINT LOUIS BILLIKENS 2024 BASEBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2024 (Saturday) | 1 pm | Home | George Mason | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 5, 2024 (Sunday) | 12 pm | Home | George Mason | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 7, 2024 (Tuesday) | 4 pm | Home | Lindenwood | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 10, 2024 (Friday) | 3 pm | Home | Dayton | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 11, 2024 (Saturday) | 2 pm | Home | Dayton | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 12, 2024 (Sunday) | 12 pm | Home | Dayton | Billiken Sports Complex |
| May 16, 2024 (Thursday) | 3 pm | Away | UMass | Amherst, Mass. |
| May 17, 2024 (Friday) | 1 pm | Away | UMass | Amherst, Mass. |
| May 18, 2024 (Saturday) | 12 pm | Away | UMass | Amherst, Mass. |
| May 21, 2024 (Tuesday) | TBA | Neutral | Atlantic 10 Championship | Tysons, Va. (Capital One Park) |