Saint Louis received a complete game from senior right-hander Bryant Cotton as the Billikens upended No. 1 seed Charlotte 3-2 Thursday at the Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship at Campbell’s Field in Camden, N.J.
The fifth-seeded Billikens (31-27) now advance to play either No. 2 Xavier or No. 3 Rhode Island Friday at 11 a.m. (St. Louis time). The winner of tomorrow’s game will earn a spot in the title game Saturday.
Cotton went the distance for his ninth win of the season, which ties him with teammate Alex Alemann for the SLU single-season record. Rich Hansmann and John Marcum also registered nine wins in a season in the 1960s.
Today’s victory came in an opposite fashion from yesterday’s 16-11 slug-fest win against Fordham. Cotton came out on top on the pitcher’s duel, yielding just two runs on four hits in nine innings of work against the league’s top-rated defense. He struck out five and walked one.
Offensively, Cody Cotter and Mike Levine registered two hits apiece, while Cotter, Andrew Guerra and Steve Fernandez all posted RBIs.
