Billiken baseball has been slaughtering its A-10 opponents one by one. The men are currently 11-1 in the A-10 with the only A-10 adversary they’ve lost to being VCU. They went 3-0 against St. Joseph’s, 2-1 vs. VCU, and now they have swept UMASS and Dayton.

This weekend against Dayton, the Billikens were explosive on offense, scoring a combined 34 runs.

The Billikens put up a huge lead early in Friday’s first game with a score of 5-2 by the fifth inning but fought adversity in the bottom of the ninth when the Flyers put up 6 runs. Senior left-handed pitcher, Aaron Patton, was able to get the Billikens out of the inning and give them the win by striking out the last batter at the plate with a runner on first. The final score was 9-8.

The Billikens had three homeruns hit by seniors, Alex King, Parker Sniatynski and James Morisano.

The nail biting was at a minimum in game two. Junior right-handed pitcher Jackson Wark struck six batters out and allowed only two runs in six innings to earn the win for the Billikens. Game two was Wark’s seventh win of the season. He leads the A-10 this season.

The Billikens showed their offensive dominance with King’s second homerun of the day—his sixth of the season—and Sniatynski’s three hits. The final score was 8-4.

Saturday the Billikens let their bats do the talking in their sweep against Dayton. The men recorded 20 hits against the Flyers. In the first inning, King sent a message by hitting his seventh homerun of the season. Sniatynski then singled and made it to second on his fourteenth stolen base of the season, then senior first baseman Nick Reeser hit a single to center field, giving Sniatynski the go ahead to run home.

After allowing three hits and a walk that led to two runs on the board for the Flyers, junior Drew Reveno was exchanged for sophomore Charlie Sheehan. Sheehan got the Billikens out of the second inning without irreversible damage as he tossed the last out of the second inning to the first batter he faced.

The real scoreboard explosion happened in the third inning. The bases were loaded with a hit batter, a walk, and an error. Then Reeser stepped up and hit a grand slam with no outs. Senior catcher James Morisano singled after the celebration at home plate. After him, senior Aaron Case doubled, and King singled to bring them both across the plate. At the end of the third, the score was 9-2.

The scoring just kept coming after the third. The Billikens crossed the plate two more times in the seventh, three times in the eighth and another two in the ninth. They ended the game 17-4.

Tuesday the men traveled to Southeast Missouri State for a midweek competition. SEMO seemed to always find a way to answer back at the plate after the Billikens got on the board.

After going one run in the first for SLU, then one run in the second inning for SEMO, SEMO took the lead in the third with another run. The Billikens then answered back in the fourth inning with a two-run homerun driven in by Morisano. The bottom of the fourth was then met with two runs by SEMO.

By the end of the sixth inning, the score was 6-3. In the top of the seventh, the Billikens knew that they needed to catch up and scored 5 to make it 8-6. Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Billikens lost control with a hit batsman, a wild pitch and an infield hit that culminated in SEMO sending four players across home plate. The rest of the game went scoreless. The final was 8-10.

Wednesday, it seemed that the Billikens had it in the bag against SIUE. With back to back three run innings in the fourth and fifth, the Billikens were up 6-0. Then in the sixth inning, SIUE stepped up and got six runs to score. They then pushed it over the edge in the seventh inning with one extra run to get the win.

The Billikens start another three-game series on April 20 against Jacksonville at home.

Baseball is hot right now after setting a 15-game win streak, the longest streak in program history, and the longest in NCAA D1 baseball this season. They lead the Atlantic 10 with a 5-1 record and have an overall record of 18-8.

Over the weekend, VCU came to SLU to play a three-game series. Their visit snapped the Billikens win streak.

Game one on Friday began in favor of the Billikens. In the bottom of the first inning, senior Aaron Case was brought home by a double from sophomore Jake Garella. The Billikens made it a two-run lead in the fourth inning. With his teammates at third and first, sophomore Ryan Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in right field that sent senior Nick Reeser across the plate.

Junior pitcher Miller Hogan kept a clean board until the seventh inning when he allowed a home run from VCU’s Paul Witt. With a runner on first, this tied the game up at 2.

VCU’s Brett Willett got a base hit off of Hogan. With Willett standing at first, VCU’s Liam Hibbits homered to right field where the shot hit off of the Billiken score board. This play took the game and the win streak from SLU, making the final score 4-2.

The next day, the boys were back at it, playing in a double header because of the impending Easter Sunday snow.

Junior pitcher Jackson Wark kept things tight at the mound. He only allowed one hit in the first five innings, and worked his way out of a hole in the sixth. With the bases loaded Wark got VCU’s Mitchel Lacey to ground out into a double play, allowing one run to score. Then Wark got Willett to fly out to right to end the inning.

Wark ended his team-leading fifth win of the season with one run on four hits and seven strikeouts.

While Wark sought perfection at the mound, the Billikens bats went to work. The Billikens scored two in the first inning. With two runners in scoring position, Garella stepped up to the plate and sent one to left field where a poor throw from third allowed for Case and senior Alex King to score.

The scoring continued in the third inning where Garella and senior Parker Sniatynski hit singles to put them at the corners. Senior Carter Hanford then stepped up and hit an RBI, then junior Cole Dubet followed suit to make it 4-0.

Due in large part to VCU errors, the Billikens went on to score three more runs in the fifth inning. The final was 7-0.

Game two was a blowout with the Billikens winning 9-0. Junior Drew Reveno was at the mound for the Billikens where he earned his fifth win of the season to tie Wark. Reveno ended his outing allowing just three hits.

The Billikens scored three runs in the second inning. In the third, Hanford hit a three-run homer. Then in the fourth inning, King hit a two-run homerun, with another run scoring in the fifth.

Wednesday, the Billikens went to Cape Girardeau to face Southeast Missouri State.

Sophomore Charlie Sheehan took the mound for the Billikens, but SEMO started off hot, scoring two runs in the first.

Then freshman Colin Townsend took to the mound in the second inning, allowing one run.

The Billikens cut into SEMO’s lead in the fourth with two runs. Reeser hit a RBI double to bring in King and Garella to make it 3-2.

SEMO added one more to their lead in the eighth. The final score was 4-2.

The Billikens host UMass this weekend at the Billiken Sports Center for a three-game series.

On March 28, Olympic bronze medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad came to SLU per the Great Issues Committee.

Muhammad started fencing in New Jersey at age 14. She never aspired to make it to the Olympics, but yet, at age 30, she was a member of the USA fencing team in Rio.

“For me, I think that I have always been a person who sets small goals for myself, and I’ve never thought about the Olympics or competing in the games or anything like that,” Muhammad said. “I’ve always said, ‘oh I want to go to a really good university, or I want to qualify for the national team. I want to win a medal at World Championships.’ So, I set these benchmarks for myself, and I kept going until I won an Olympic medal.”

Growing up, Muhammad had always participated in sports but found that fencing was a great fit for her due to her religious practice of wearing a hijab.

“I think from an early age I realized that my hijab or even being African American had the power to change how people treated me, and I’ve never really allowed that to dictate how I felt about myself,” Muhammad said. “I’ve never said there are limitations on the things I can do or who I can be because I’m a woman or because I’m black or because I’m Muslim.”

When Muhammad realized in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games that her team was in the bronze medal match, she couldn’t believe it. The team of four beat Italy 45-30.

“I was in complete shock and kind of disbelief the entire time, and I just kept saying I can’t believe it because you work so hard, and that’s a moment in your life that you can only dream about,” Muhammad said.

The road hasn’t always been easy, but through Muhammad’s resilience, she was able to turn any negativity into motivation.

“I’ve always felt motivated by the naysayers in my life,” Muhammad said.

Since the Olympics, she has been speaking to different groups, writing memoirs and a children’s book; additionally, she has a Barbie doll inspired by her. All of these opportunities are a testament to her resilience. Muhammad believes that anything that is meant to be will never miss her.

“I’m just excited for every step of the way,” Muhammad said.

This past weekend, Men’s and Women’s Track and Field competed at the Atlantic-10 Indoor Championships at Mackal Field House in Kingston, Rhode Island.

As a collective, the men scored 51 points in the meet, giving them an eighth-place finish out of 10 teams.

Junior long distance runner Manuel de Backer competed in the 5000 meter and 3000-meter races where he was seeded to win gold in the 5000 and bronze in the 3000, but ended both races with the silver. De Backer missed first place in the 5000 on Saturday by four thousandths of a second. On Sunday during the 3000, he crossed the finish line at a personal best time of 8:19.14.

De Backer was disappointed in his performance during the 5000, saying “It looked like I was going to win, but in the last meter I got out-inched. I was mad at myself that I didn’t have that little bit left in me.” His performance in the 3000 surprised him, though. “It was a really fast race with a strong crew. I wasn’t expecting to PR. It came out of nowhere.”

On Tuesday it was announced that freshman long distance runner, Ben Naeger, earned a spot on the Indoor Track and Field All Rookie Team. Naeger ran in the 5000 meter and 3000 meter, where he was the only freshman competing amongst older and more experienced runners. In the 3000, Naeger earned ninth out of 13 and in the 5000, he earned tenth out of 20.

Senior Ryan Noonan had an exciting road to the podium on Sunday. On Saturday, Noonan finished fifth in the 800 prelims, which was good enough to make it to the final race on Sunday. He then took home second place with a time of 1:53.40.

Noonan continued to have a successful weekend with the Billiken men taking home the bronze in the men’s 4×800 meter relay. Junior Kevin Ganahl, Noonan, sophomore Jon Schaefer, and junior Tannock Blair broke the school record with their bronze finish with an ending time of 7:40.7.

The women had a disappointing weekend, while only scoring three points and placing twelfth out of 13.

Junior Ann Harlos reached the finals of the 60-meter hurdles and ran to an eighth-place finish of 9.13. Freshman Katie Wissing finished eighth in the triple jump, hitting 11.37 meters.

Billikens’ Swimming and Diving have had a strong showing this season. Both men and women have won their past five meets.

At the Butler Invitational on Jan. 21, the Billikens made history when both the men’s and women’s teams placed first. This is the first time that both teams have won this meet in the same season.

The men earned nine first-place finishes to end up first of five participating teams. Of those nine first place finishes, Senior Ryan McCoy earned three of them. He raced in the 100 free (46.34), 200 free (1:41.39) and 100 fly (49.37). Sophomore Collin O’Brien also captured three wins for the Billikens. He earned first in the 200 IM (1:56.14), 100 breast (58.04) and 200 breast (2:10.28) to propel the Billikens ahead of the competition.

The women finished first of six teams. Their five second-place finishes were enough to outscore second-place finisher, Xavier.

Saturday, Jan. 27, was senior day for the Billikens. The team hosted a double dual meet against Eastern Illinois and UMSL at the Simon Rec Center. Of the men’s team, the senior athletes that were honored were Stephen Cole, Ryan McCoy, Ben Pearthree and Karl Schaenzer. The women’s team seniors are Nora Gartland, Megan Harper, Mina Glenesk, Riley Kirby, Elaine Mahon, Morgan Parkinson, Hillary Rancap, Kalley Schwab and Maggie Sheean.

“I’m proud of my swimming career, but I understand it’s time to end,” said senior Ben Pearthree. “I’ve been in the water so long, I think it’s time to explore new opportunities and look back on my successes.”

To conclude the regular season, both teams bested their opponents to go 2-0 on the day. The men outscored UMSL 171.50-93.5 and beat Eastern Illinois 204.50-59.50. The women crushed UMSL 234-42 and Eastern Illinois 227-44.

The Billikens now look forward to the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships in Geneva, Ohio on Feb. 14-17.

This school year, multiple SLU athletic teams have spent time going through physical training and learning leadership skills from the United States Marine Corp. Student athletes have learned to push their bodies to the max and how to encourage their teammates to do the same by being a better leader.

Men’s Basketball is one of the teams that hasn’t had the opportunity to spend time with the USMC yet. But in keeping with the rest of the athletic department, during an away trip to George Mason, the men found time to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps on January 11.

The team took a tour of the museum and had a marine speak to them.

“They gave us a really great speech about how tough life can be, but college right now is great to have the team around you to support you” said sophomore Jalen Johnson. “That team feeling is such a great thing, and that’s what the Marines are all about. They’re all about team and getting the job done.”

For junior D.J. Foreman the visit brought up similar memories from his recent past.

“I went to a military prep school,” said Foreman, who went to Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Virginia. “It was really reminiscent going there and just hearing him talk. It just reminded me how much they sacrifice.”

The selflessness displayed by the Marines is something that Foreman noticed as a value of the Marines. Just as “missions get completed,” games get won.

“He told us if you stick together, then everyone will shine,” Foreman said. “Like missions get completed. Selflessness and doing your job for your teammate and comrade.”

A core value held by the USMC is commitment. They perform this by looking to their left and their right in training and in battle. They stay in it because they’re committed to helping their fellow Marine.

Similarly the Men’s Basketball team is “buying in,” said Foreman. “Buying in to what our coach wants us to do. On offense, we’re just really aggressive, gritty overall. I think that makes a big difference when we’re playing.”

SLU Volleyball opened up Atlantic 10 Conference play at Chaifetz Arena on Friday, Sept. 22, against Dayton. The women fell quickly in three sets. The Billikens battled in the first set, allowing the Flyers to beat them by two with a final score of 26-24. The Flyers stretched their lead in the subsequent sets, winning 25-18 and 25-15.

Friday, Sept. 29, volleyball continued their schedule at home with a win in three sets against conference opponent La Salle.

Sunday, Oct. 1, the Duquesne Dukes visited Chaifetz Arena in an A-10 match-up. Going into the match the Dukes were 7-10 overall and 2-1 in conference play while SLU was 5-11 overall and 1-1 in conference.

In the first set, the Dukes pulled ahead early, but SLU rallied to close the set between two with Duke up 1-0. The Billikens won the second set handedly, winning 25-18 to tie up the sets. The Billikens then hit a lull in the third set as the Dukes never fell behind in the count, taking the set 21-25. The Billikens were on fire in the fourth set as four Billikens logged service aces, including Sophomore Sien Gallop, Freshman Juliana Phillips, Senior Lauren Leverenz, and Senior Mackenzie Long. In a fifth set that is played to 15 but must be won by two, the Billikens came out on top, winning 17-15.

The Billikens go on the road this weekend to play against conference opponents, Rhode Island and Fordham.

Billiken Field Hockey answers back after a poor showing during opening weekend play. The women are now on a two-win streak, with a record of 2-2.

On Aug. 25, the Billikens lost their first regular season game on the road to the Ball State Cardinals. The Cardinals scored five goals against SLU, while SLU experienced offensive failure.

The Billikens next matchup was a neutral site game against Ohio University at Ball State’s field. The Billikens doubled their shots on goal from the previous game from three against Ball State to six, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Bobcats. The Billikens fell 1-6 with a goal in the first half by Jess Dunlap, midfielder.

On Aug. 30 the Billikens had their home opener against LIU Brooklyn where they had an overdue offensive explosion. Carly Kissinger, midfielder, had the first two goals, with Morgan Crowe, forward, assisting both goals. Then at 33 minutes into the half, Julia Bakker, forward, found the back of the cage off a pass from Katie Moss, midfielder.

The scoring continued in the second half with another Kissinger-Crowe combo, but with the roles reversed. In the 64th minute Moss dove in front of LIU’s goalie for a tip on a shot by Hanna Smith, forward. The Billikens came out on top, winning 5-1.

The Billikens edged out over Colgate to continue their winning streak on Sept. 2. Throughout the first half the Billikens held their ground against Colgate’s shots, ending the half 0-0, with Colgate having four shots on goal to SLU’s two.

The second half continued scoreless until the 66th minute when Kissinger assisted Moss. In the final minutes the Billikens played possession to run out the clock to beat Colgate 1-0.

Tuesday, Kissinger received Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, an honor a SLU field hockey player hasn’t received since 2011.

The Billikens look toward playing Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. Sept. 10.