SLU first baseman Cam Redding (28) celebrates bashing his team-leading 13th home run of the season, during the Billikens’ 14-4 win over Fordham, Saturday afternoon at the Billikens Sports Complex. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordham (19-36) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Saint Louis (30-21) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | X | 14 | 14 | 2 |
WP: Reid Hendrickson (2-0) LP: William Simeone (0-3)
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — The Saint Louis University men’s baseball team put a spectacular finish on its 2023 regular season by sweeping its final home series against Atlantic 10 Conference foe, Fordham University.
The Billikens romped over the Rams, 9-2, on Thursday. Then rallied back from 4-1 and 6-3 deficits, to win on Friday, 8-6.
But those two games were just the lead-in to Saturday’s contest, where Saint Louis smacked 14 hits and scored 14 runs in a sensational last game of the regular season win.
The Billikens will head into the postseason with a 30-21 record, and will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. SLU began the weekend in sixth place in the league standings, but vaulted up to fourth, thanks to its dynamite wins over Fordham.
The tournament will begin on Tuesday, May 23, at VCU’s The Diamond ballpark in Richmond, Va. The rest of the field has not been completely determined yet, but Saint Louis knows it will be the fourth seed and will play its first postseason game on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
On Saturday, and as it had in the previous two games against Fordham, SLU fell behind early. The visiting Rams jumped ahead 1-0, before a bases loaded walk by Colin Bergmann and an RBI single by Hayden Moore in the bottom of the second gave the Billikens a 2-1 lead.
Fordham responded by tying the game in the top of the third, then taking the lead in the top of the fourth. That lead held until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Saint Louis scored seven runs to go ahead 10-4.
The key blows in that frame were a pair of three run home runs by first baseman Cam Redding and third baseman Cameron Swanger. Redding’s blast, his team-leading 13th of the season, gave SLU a 7-4 lead.
Swanger, the 2022 transfer from Missouri, followed with his fourth dinger of the season to put the Billikens up 10-4. SLU added runs in the bottom of the seventh and bottom of the eighth, before closing out the series sweep and its 17th home win of the season.
Relief pitcher Reid Hendrickson (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings to pick up the win. He pitched the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings for Saint Louis and didn’t allow any hits, while striking out two and walking just one.
2023 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT GAME SCHEDULE – RICHMOND, VA
Tuesday, May 23
Game 1: No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, 10 AM
Game 2: No. 2 Seed vs. No. 7 Seed, 2 PM
Game 3: No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed, 6 PM
Wednesday, May 24
Game 4: No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Game 1, 10 AM
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 3 PM
Game 6: Lowest Seeded Loser of Games 1-3 vs. Second Lowest Seeded Loser of Games 1-3, 6 PM
Thursday, May 25
Game 7: Highest Seeded Loser of Games 1-3 vs. Loser of Game 5, 10 AM
Game 8: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 4, 2 PM
Game 9: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 6 PM
SEMIFINALS
Friday, May 26
Game 10: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 10 AM
Game 11: Winner of Game 9 vs. Loser of Game 10, 2 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, May 27
Game 12: Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 11, 11 AM