May 25, 2013
BOX SCORE
CHARLOTTE, NC – Saint Louis used three homeruns to power its way to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship with a 7-4 victory over Charlotte.
It is the third A-10 title for Saint Louis (2006, 2010 & 2013) and the Billikens earn the A-10’s automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship which begins next Friday. The selection show is on ESPNU on Monday at Noon.
SLU, who dropped its opening game of the championship to Xavier on Thursday, won four games over the course of the last 24 hours to take the title. Saint Louis becomes the first teams since XU’s 2009 squad to win the championship out of the consolation bracket.
Saint Louis got on the board in the third inning when Grant Nelson delivered an RBI single to put the Bills up 1-0. Alex Kelly then followed with a homerun to make the score 3-0 Saint Louis.
SLU got solo homeruns from All-Championship Team member Michael Bozarth in the fifth and designated hitter Steve Fernandez in the sixth that made it 5-0.
Charlotte responded in the home-half of the sixth inning taking advantage of three Saint Louis errors to score four runs and cut its deficit to just one.
Saint Louis got a pair of insurance runs in the eighth when Fernandez doubled to plate Braxton Martinez and Alec Sole followed Martinez with a single up the middle that made the score 7-4 in favor of the Bills.
Reliever Marco Mejia came in with one out in the seventh inning and proceeded to allow just one hit over the final 2.2 innings, while striking out three for his sixth save of the season. Charlotte starter Wes Hatley (2-3) took the loss after going four innings and gave giving up three runs.
Kelly was named the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player after setting records for hits with 12 and RBI with 13. The Billikens as a team hit seven homeruns during the week, which ties a championship record.
Saint Louis improves to 41-19 with the win, while Charlotte drops to 37-23.
2013 Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Championship Team
| Derek Brown |
George Washington |
Sr. |
First Base |
| Tyler Beckwith |
Richmond |
Fr. |
Shortstop |
| Mike Bradstreet |
Rhode Island |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
| Mark Elwell |
Xavier |
Sr. |
Outfield |
| Vinny Nittoli |
Xavier |
Jr. |
Outfield/Pitcher |
| Alex Kelly |
Saint Louis |
Sr. |
Outfield |
| Brad Elwood |
Charlotte |
So. |
Second Base |
| Michael Bozarth |
Saint Louis |
Fr. |
Outfield |
| Tony Montlbano |
Charlotte |
Sr. |
Outfield |
| Marco Mejia |
Saint Louis |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
| John Hamilton |
Charlotte |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
| Mike Vigliarolo |
Saint Louis |
So. |
First Baseman |
Most Outstanding Player: Alex Kelly, Saint Louis