“I didn’t really feel it at first,” said SLU women’s soccer goalkeeper Olivia Silverman after taking a knee to the back of the head in their NCAA Tournament game against Kansas in November. Her pounding adrenaline kept her in the game, but the damage had already been done. Silverman collected her fifth concussion and is now medically retired from soccer.

An NCAA study showed that women’s soccer is one of the highest concussion-risk sports, with sports-related concussion rates at 6.3 per 10,000 athlete exposures. Concussions cause dangerous injuries to the brain with potentially life-altering damages. Silverman said after her most recent concussion she started suffering some memory issues that still linger even months after the concussion occurred.

Silverman has an aggressive style of play in goal. She is not afraid to jump out and put her body on the line, but aggression comes with risks, and for Silverman it resulted in five concussions.

Silverman had two concussions prior to starting at SLU, one from soccer and one from basketball. She got two more concussions in her freshman year at SLU, one in preseason and one in the spring. Silverman said her fourth concussion was concerning as the trainers said she would likely be ready to play in a few weeks. It took her over 100 days to recover.

Silverman spent the period between her fourth and fifth concussions to focus on the little things. “I started working more on my form, started working more on my technical skill, and making sure every inch was covered, protecting myself,” she said.

The fifth concussion in Kansas was another long road to recovery. Silverman said it took 102 days before she was cleared just for physical activity. Some days she was fine but others she was stuck in bed all day. She decided to talk to a doctor who ultimately gave her the choice whether she would play again.

“That was just hard to think that this situation could possibly be the ending,” said teammate and friend Brionna Halverson, pausing to take a deep breath, “her career ending factor…it was tough on a lot of us.”

After talks with doctors, friends, family and coaches, Silverman came to a decision that she would no longer play. But still eager to be part of the team, she and head coach Katie Shields came to a conclusion that would keep her as a key player. Silverman has wanted to go into coaching and said that her new role as a student assistant coach is just starting early.

Now nicknamed Coach O, Silverman plays a role in helping volunteer assistant coach Sam Lund do goalkeeper work with the three other keepers, Kasey Hartmann, Mary Niehaus and Kat Zaber.  

With Silverman out, the goalkeeper spot is up in the air. Niehaus was nursing a knee injury last season and unable to play but was a strong keeper in her last two seasons. Hartmann and Zaber are both young goalkeepers that put Niehaus to the test. Silverman has been working with the “goalkeeper sorority” and said that no matter who is in goal the team will be strong.

SLU women’s soccer coaching staff was unable to comment on any issue regarding Silverman’s retirement with medical exams and paperwork still pending, but Silverman said the coaching staff has supported her through the process, helping her come to a decision and guiding her through her new role as a coach.

“It’s bittersweet definitely,” said Silverman, “but seeing that I can still have an impact on my team is everything to me.” 

Billiken baseball kicked off conference play last weekend with a three-game series against the Dayton Flyers at home. The series started on Friday, March 22 and spanned the weekend.

The Billikens came into the game fresh off a win over 23rd ranked Illinois.

The Bills have historically played well against Dayton, winning eight of nine league games over the past three seasons. This year saw Dayton take their game up a notch, taking the series 2-1.

The first game played close but Dayton held the lead throughout the game. SLU pitching kept the Flyers from soaring through the sky, but they did exit the runway. Two runs in the fourth and fifth innings started the Dayton lead. One more run in the seventh capped their runs at three. The Bills versus Flyers dog fight started in the bottom of the ninth as a home run from senior first baseman Shane Benes earned two runs for the Billikens, putting them right back into the game. The Bills put two more on base but were unable to pull off the comeback and crashed 2-3.

The Bills kept the flyers grounded in the second game, earning their first conference win of the season. Redshirt junior pitcher Cody Luther started the game for the Bills and only allowed two runs off seven hits in his five innings pitched.

The Bills took the lead early with one run scored in the first inning. Dayton managed to keep the Billiken beast at bay until it broke free from its chains in the fifth, unleashing two more runs and putting the Bills up 3-0. The flyers came back in the sixth with two runs of their own. One more run for Dayton at the top of the eighth leveled the score at 3-3.

With extra innings on the horizon, the Bills sealed the game away with a run in the eighth. Senior pitcher Ryan Lefner closed out the game, letting up no runs to end the game at 4-3.

The series came to a thrilling conclusion in a 12-inning game three. The Bills went up in the first with two runs and held the lead for six innings with senior pitcher Jackson Wark on the mound, who allowed only one earned run off seven hits and struck out eight Flyers.

Dayton caught the Bills with two runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Bills were unable to send another runner home and the extra innings ensued. The 10th and 11th innings came up scoreless.

The 12th inning saw two runs for the Flyers off a home run. With the Bills unable to bounce back, the game ended a 2-4 loss.

The Billikens played four non-conference games in the last week, squaring off against SIUE, St. John’s and Mizzou. The four games ended in four losses.

St. John’s and Mizzou are both ranked top 50 in the NCAA, and one might have guessed that after the St. John’s game. The Billikens scored five runs over two games compared to St. John’s 22. The first game saw the Billikens manage to stay in contest with a trailing score of 2-3 in the sixth, but St. John’s took over and ended the game at 6-2. The second game did not go well for the Billikens.

St. John’s put up an early run in the first and four more in the third. The Bills struggled at 7-3 in the seventh, but the eighth inning saw St. John’s with nine more runs, finishing the game at 16-3.

The Billikens will look to improve their 1-2 conference record as they continue conference play this weekend in Massachusetts to play a three-game series against UMass starting Friday, April 9.

It is no secret that St. Louisans are huge hockey (Blues) fans. In a city where folks “bleed blue” hockey is ingrained in the culture. So then where is the collegiate hockey?

There is actually a lot of college hockey in the St. Louis area, just not at the NCAA D1 level.

In the 1970s SLU had a D1 team. The team had an arrangement with the Blues so they could host games at the St. Louis Arena (which has since been demolished), making them a shining star for college hockey in the Midwest. But in 1977, Blues ownership changed and with the change came a renegotiation of SLU’s ice use. SLU ultimately had to choose between ice hockey and basketball funding, and with that decision ice hockey was relegated to a club sport.

Thirty years later, the Saint Louis University club hockey team still provides a competitive atmosphere for college students to continue their education and play a sport they love.

The Billikens compete in the Mid American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) against other Midwestern opponents. The 2018-2019 season ended slightly below par with a record of 7-14-0-1 and no playoff run. Though the Bills ended the season sooner than they had hoped, it is by no means indicative of future and past success. With regular playoff runs the Bills look to come back stronger in the next season.

But getting together a strong team can be slightly more challenging for a club team. For a lot of NCAA athletes, the students make the decision to continue their athletic career and see what the best school for them is. With a club sport like hockey, the process is switched. Head coach Sean Fitzpatrick finds students interested or committed to SLU with a hockey background and tries to get them interested in continuing hockey at SLU.

For SLU hockey, this recruitment process starts young. The team holds youth camps over the summer, as well as practices with local youth teams and coaching young players. SLU’s image as part of the St. Louis community as well as a Jesuit schools helps to recruit strong local students and other Jesuit students.

For senior Carter Alcock this type of recruitment is something unique to the club program. “I think that’s kinda what makes it fun,” he said. “You kinda get whatever shows up, you put it together, you put a team on the ice, and hopefully it goes well.”

As a club team, SLU hockey is a student organization and gets its funding from the rec as opposed to the athletics department. This creates a challenging financial situation, but also gives the team another unique structural piece.

Student organizations at SLU have executive boards and two years ago the hockey team made the decision to establish a player-run e-board. They shifted responsibilities from their head coach to the players. This makes the team as a whole responsible for all their actions. “It definitely makes you more invested in the team,” said Alcock.

The three days of practice a week culminate in the weekend where the Bills play on Fridays and Saturdays. The Bills play home games at Webster Groves Ice Arena and a have a few fun promotions that could convince any student on the fence about going to a game. It is a free hockey game and a sponsorship with Narwhal’s Crafted gets you a free drink for going to a game. The “Chuck a Puck” promotion gives fans the opportunity to throw a puck on the ice to win a raffle and support the team.

At the end of the game, if things go well, Bills and fans exit the stands with LunchMoney Lewis’ “Bills” playing and smiles on their faces.

Billikens baseball is coming off a season that other Division One programs would die for. Coach Darin Hendrickson’s Bills won the A-10 regular season and conference tournament championships, set a school record for a winning streak with 15 consecutive victories, won 38 games, made an appearance in the NCAA Regional and had two of its starters drafted in the 2018 MLB Entry Draft.

There are high expectations to be filled, but with 10 seniors gone and 14 new players, the look of the Billikens this season is incredibility different than last season. Despite these changes, the members of the A-10 still feel as though the conference runs through St. Louis, as the Bills were voted for the second straight year to take home the championship.

Despite all the success the Bills had last season, their season opened in horrific fashion, going 1-7 to start the season on their two southern road trips. Starting the year on a stronger note was sure to be a point of emphasis when they headed to Hoover, Alabama for a four-game neutral site matchup against the University of Miami Ohio RedHawks and then to Los Angeles to take on the Loyola-Marymount Lions.

The Bills were able to eclipse their early season record from last year by splitting their opening series two games apiece.

Opening the season with a win, the Billikens started strong dominating UMO to the tune of a 9-1 win. Cody Luther dominated from the mound going six complete innings allowing only one hit with four strikeouts before being relieved by Drew Reveno, who was equally dominant getting four strikeouts in only two innings of work. Freshman Ryan Patel was able to close the game out in his Billiken debut working a clean ninth inning. A breakout third inning for SLU’s offence is what made the difference in the ball game, as Cole Dubet’s two run single broke the floodgates that ultimately lead to an 8-0 lead.

With the Billikens returning to play the next day for a double header, the strong offense couldn’t continue into game two, as the Bills fell 3-2. Jackson Wark was on the losing end for the Bills despite giving up only one run on four and a third innings pitched. The latter part of the double-header saw another pitcher making his Billiken debut, Luke Matheny (son of Mike Matheny, former St. Louis Cardinals Manager) made the start and got the win for the Billikens going three and a third innings in the 10-3 win. Cole Dubet was a driving factor again with two RBIs, along with strong performances from Corrigan Bartlett and Shane Benes who each added two hits and RBIs of their own.

The Billikens couldn’t get the win in the fourth game of the series and ended up splitting the series with a 9-7 loss, despite a three-run ninth that almost gave the Billikens the comeback they needed. Connor Lehman had a short appearance, only going one and third innings, before Colin Townsend was able to come in and provide some stability. The Billikens offense though was neutralized, only scratching four hits throughout the game.

The Billikens then continued their stretch away from St Louis with a three-game set in Los Angeles to take on Loyola-Marymount. Despite strong pitching across all three games, the Billikens were only able to take one of three games on the trip.

In game one on Friday in LA, the Billikens seemed poised to walk away with a win. After a quality start from starter Luther, who went seven complete innings with eight strikeouts, and with the Billiken offense out-hitting the LMU Lions to the tune of seven hits to five. However, a lack of timely hitting limited the Billikens to just one run and seven base runners left stranded, leaving the Billikens with a 3-1 loss to open the weekend. Jake Garella provided the lone Billiken run with an RBI double in the eighth inning.

Game two was not quite the pitchers duel featured in game one. SLU found itself down seven entering the sixth inning, before posting three consecutive innings of scoring putting itself back into the game with just a two-run deficit entering the ninth. Despite the late game serge, the Bills were not able to complete the comeback and dropped their second game of the series. Jackson Wark made his second start of the season, going only one and two thirds innings before being replaced by sophomore reliever Townsend. Matheny finished out the effort throwing four complete. The offensive comeback was a team effort with five players getting RBIs.

The Billikens avoided the weekend sweep when starter Lehman took to the mound, getting his first win of the year and going five and a third in the SLU 7-1 win. The Billikens tallied 12 hits on the day with four players having multi-hit days with Kevin Jordan and Ben Livorsi adding two RBIs each. Ryan Lefner and Drew Reveno added a combined three and two thirds scoreless innings to close out the game and secure the third Billiken win of the season.

The Billikens will next head to Deland, Florida for three games, continuing their extensive road non-conference schedule. The Billikens will take on Stetson University, Sacred Heart and Georgetown University in consecutive days over the March 1 weekend.

The only thing more impressive than an eight-time A-10 Rookie of the Week is a nine-time A-10 Rookie of the Week. And the only thing that could be more impressive than nine conference awards would be a national award. Freshman guard Ciaja Harbison was named national Freshman of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association amidst her fifth consecutive conference rookie award.

Before the start of the season head coach Lisa Stone said, “Our freshman have to play this year,” and as the end of the season comes into sight fans see just how important that has been. Twelve of the 14 Rookie of the Week awards belong to Saint Louis and Saint Louis fans have thus playfully coined the award “SLU Rookie of the Week.”

But the rookie recognition reached past the A-10 when Harbison received the first USBWA award for a Billiken in program history. Harbison received the national Freshman of the Week award for her performance in two wins over George Washington and George Mason.

Harbison has been a crucial piece in the Billiken Blue Puzzle for the 2018-2019 season. A strong offensive presence and her consistency has been the key to unlocking her potential. Harbison currently sits at third in the A-10 in scoring with 130 field goals, 14 three pointers and 91 free throws for a total of 365 points. To put that into perspective, Steph Curry has a total of 0 points scored in the A-10.

The #teamfirst culture of the Billikens shows in the selfless way Harbison has played this season. Her conference runner up 106 assists speaks to that. Her defensive capability makes her just as much a threat off the ball as she is on the ball.

Harbison’s hard work in the last two games against Fordham and La Salle garnered her a fifth consecutive A-10 Rookie of the Week award averaging 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals over the two games.

While Harbison continues to receive accolades, it is clearly a product of overall team performance. “Our team really stepped it up,” Harbison said after Wednesday’s game against Duquesne. “Even the bench players came in and made a lot of good plays. So I’m excited, we’re all excited.”

A brief look at one of Harbison’s contemporaries from St. Bonaventure starts to paint a better picture of just how formidable the Billikens and Harbison specifically are. Freshman guard Asianae Johnson is one of two non-Billikens to receive A-10 Rookie of the Week plaudits.  

Both players play a crucial role in their respective team’s rotation with Harbison playing in and starting in 24/24 games and Johnson in 23/23. They both fly around the .430 field goal percentage but Harbison consistently outscores Johnson with 130 compared to Johnson’s 83. Harbison nets about five more points per game than Johnson with 15.2 points per game compared to Johnson’s 10.

A-10 rookies are making strong performances, but none are quite able to fly with Harbison. A nine-time Rookie of the Week makes her look more on par with any veteran player in the conference than other rookies.

Harbison is only a freshman and still has three more seasons in front of her. Roll Bills!

With the winter sports season starting off at full throttle, the fall sports have drawn to a close, and SLU men’s soccer ends their season with some key takeaways moving forward.

The Billikens fought their way into an A-10 tournament spot, seeding sixth in the conference with a 3-1-4 record overall. Four grueling 110-minute draws kept the Billikens in the middle of the table throughout the season, but got them a spot in the tournament.

The Bills faced off against No. 3 seed George Mason in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament. The match went into double overtime, a spectacle the Bills saw a total of seven times throughout the season. With penalty kicks just two minutes away, a header from George Mason’s Pablo Pertusa won them the game, ending SLU’s soccer season.

SLU posted a record of 6-4-7 for the overall season. Though the Bills won more games than they lost, ties were the biggest percentage of games.

In an interview with Athletic Director Chris May, Head Coach Kevin Kalish said,

“The expectation is to win the A-10 and make it into the NCAA Tournament. We didn’t do that this season, but I think our culture became stronger. I think the expectations are clearer on how we work and what we’re trying to accomplish. On the field we made tremendous progress with our identity and how we’re going to win games in the future.”

It was clear throughout the season that Kalish has been laying the groundwork for a successful program. The Billikens proceeded to outshoot nearly every opponent they faced. And as Michael Scott said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take -Wayne Gretzky.”

Even with a large amount of ties, the men’s soccer team is still taking a step in the right direction. Billikens dominated shot counts throughout the season, which in many cases was a solid product of more possessions than the opposition. Most losses were narrow margins and most ties were at 0 to 1 goal apiece, a strong step up in their defensive play.

The final piece of the Billiken Blue Puzzle (I’m coining this term, it’s mine now) was the local talent. Kalish is using local ties to keep the best talent from St. Louis at home. It started with a few players in this season and a few more in the next season. It is likely fans will see a lot of St. Louis players coming to SLU, especially if the program can continue its positive growth.

The first year under Kalish has seen a lot of little tweaks to the team’s dynamic that may ultimately push the program to heights not seen in years. Fans will just have to wait until next season to see how high they can go.

  A crowd of almost 5,000 St. Louis soccer fans filled the seats at Robert R. Hermann Stadium for a Friday night game on Sept. 21. The special occasion was the famed Bronze Boot match between rivals Saint Louis University and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The two teams battled it out under the floodlights for possession of the Joseph S. Carenza Sr. Trophy.

  The trophy, topped with a cleat coated in bronze, was last up for contention in 1998 when the Billikens defeated SIUE for the rights to the trophy. Twenty years later, the Bronze Boot match was revived thanks in part to SLU head coach, Kevin Kalish, who led the SIUE soccer program from 2008-2013.

  “From day one, when [Kalish] got the job here, we talked about rejuvenating the college game. And this game, I think, paints a really good picture for kids, [and] for the community. You’ve got two programs here in St. Louis competing at a high level, and it absolutely paints a wonderful picture of what soccer can bring to St. Louis,” said SIUE head coach, Mario Sanchez.

  The first half played out back and forth, with the Billikens edging the Cougars 4-2 in shots. The half wrapped up scoreless. As the current generation of SLU and SIUE soccer players left the field for halftime, soccer alumni from the two schools were invited to step onto the pitch.

  One could see the soccer history in the massive line of alumni spanning almost the entire length of the field.

  The second half kicked off with the Billikens reinvigorating the game as they began to dominate play. An early goal from the Cougars in the 52nd minute left the Bills searching for an opportunity.

  With just under 16 minutes left in the half, a cross to the head of senior forward Anthony Brown went into the back of the net as the crowd leapt to its feet, but the ball was called offsides and the Billikens remained down.

  The Bills kept the heat up and managed to find the equalizing goal with two minutes left in the half. After a shot from junior forward Leo Novaes, Brown picked up the scraps, leveling the score.

  A 90th minute PK from SIUE almost dashed the Bills’ hope, but freshman goalkeeper Seth Stiebel stopped the shot, sending the game into overtime.

  The two periods played out similarly,, with the Bills controlling play and outshooting SIUE 7-0. The game concluded at a 1-1 draw.

  The Billikens, the previous holders of the trophy, retain possession until 2019 when the next match will be played at SIUE.

  Senior defender Lennart Hein was named MVP.

  After a week off, the Bills opened conference play with an away match against Dayton on Saturday, Sept. 29. The first half closed at 0-0 with all the action set to come in the second half.

  A total of four goals were scored in the second half. Freshman midfielder John Klein opened the scoring in the 59th minute, and Novaes gave the Bills a 2-0 lead under four minutes later with a free kick goal.

  A minute later, Dayton cut the lead in half, and then tied the game in the 77th minute. Two periods of extra time could not separate the sides, and the game concluded 2-2.

  The Bills are back in action against La Salle at Hermann Stadium on Oct. 6.

Many beginner chess players know a simple trick called the “four-move checkmate” that allows for a quick defeat of the opponent in four simple moves. I know from personal experience that this does not work against the Grandmasters on SLU’s Chess Team.

The SLU Chess Team held a meet and greet last Tuesday, April 10, as part of Atlas Week in order to expose other students to the world of chess.

“Chess is small world,” said coach Alejandro Ramirez.

Being such a small world, there are not many people who understand what the community is like. There are only around 1,400 people who hold the title of Grandmaster, the highest-level players can attain. With such a small number of people globally, Ramirez uses this to his advantage. He goes to tournaments and talks to players and coaches to recruit people to the university.

He has done just that. In the past two years since the chess team began, SLU has picked up a seven-player roster, all Grandmasters. The team, comprised of five undergraduate and two graduate students, has seen remarkable success in the President’s Cup, known as the final four of chess, with a third-place run in 2017 and fourth place in 2018.

These successes do not come overnight. The players have been working on their craft since they were children and all of them come a long way from home to pursue their studies and chess in what Cemil Can Ali Marandi calls “the chess capital of the world.” St. Louis is home to the two top chess colleges, SLU and Webster University, making it an ideal location for aspiring chess players.

As international students, many people would assume that the move to the United States would be difficult. For the chess team, it is less difficult than one would think.

“We have to go play tournaments with other people,” said Francesco Rambaldi, the youngest player on SLU’s team. “We travel a lot, so we get to see a lot of other things.”

It is a common story among chess players; they travel and compete from a young age. Like most students, it is hard for players to be away from their families for extended periods of time, but their families are no strangers to hectic schedules. Junior Dariusz Swiercz left his home in Poland, leaving his sister and parents to pursue higher education and chess mastery.

“It is easier because we are used to such situations,” said Swiercz. “Still, it’s hard, because the distance is the entire Atlantic ocean.”

SLU now has a chess facility that grants the team adequate space and technology to meet and train. As an individual sport, the team largely practices on their own, and players compete in individual tournaments. A big part of keeping up with each other and with other players comes from the individual training. Players get to target specific parts of their game and work to improve them.

“I analyze openings,” said Rambaldi. “The main part of studying openings is trying to get into positions that your opponent didn’t expect.”

These small steps taken each day keeps players sharp, so they can perform well as a team.
The team meets once a week on top of their individual training by themselves and with coach Ramirez. Ramirez says the team meeting is important because, “they can still learn an incredible amount from each other…because even though it is an individual game, the team atmosphere is very important.”

The team has performed well in its young age. Ramirez and all the players are hoping to improve in the final four next year and are looking to pull ahead of their local rival, Webster.

The Saint Louis University Track and Field team had a big weekend over the Easter break. With Billikens competing in two meets, it was a jam-packed weekend with some big Billiken notables.

The Bills kicked off the weekend with a trip down to Raleigh, North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays. The men’s distance runners got it started with junior Manuel de Backer making his season debut in the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:52.29. Junior Tannock Blair came out big with a 1,500 meter time of 3:50.44, which is currently the second fastest 1,500 meter time in the Atlantic 10.

The Bills hiked it down to Oxford, Mississippi for the Ole Miss Relays. Junior Ann Harlos made big moves at the meet placing sixth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.34, the third fastest league time in the event this year. Junior Colton Nettleton came out of the 1,500 meters in sixth place with a time of 3:57.26, one of the top times in the A-10 this season.

Another A-10 notable time came from junior Dorrian Gordon, who posted a time of 9:24.62 in his first  3,000-meter steeplechase of the year. With that time, Gordon broke his previous personal record of 9:36.15 and now holds the third best time for the event in the A-10.

The Bills wrapped up the meet with a win in the men’s javelin. Junior Alex Eldridge launched his winning toss on his first attempt, giving him 162-02.

The Bills came away from the meet with good results to launch them into their next meet. The Bills are next in action at home for the Billiken Invitational over the weekend from April 6-7. The Bills will be in action at the SLU Medical Center Stadium, located on SLU’s med campus.

The Billikens opened up the 2018 season with a trip down to Kissimmee, Florida over the Feb. 16 weekend for the Sunshine State Classic. The Bills played four games in the tournament and came out with a 1-3 record, taking a win against Pittsburgh.

The early season tournaments continued Thursday, Feb. 22 when the Bills opened the Irish Alamo Classic with a game against Notre Dame. The game resulted in a 7-3 loss for the Bills who subsequently fell to Purdue and Incarnate Word. The Bills came back home from San Antonio, Texas with four losses making their overall record 1-7.

The Billikens opened a 10-game home stretch that started Friday, March 2 against Chicago State. The Bills played out the three-game series over the weekend that resulted in three wins for the Bills.

The first game of the series took the Bills two innings to win. With three runs in the second inning and four runs in the third inning, the Bills kept the lead largely thanks to a stellar performance from junior pitcher Miller Hogan who held Chicago offense with three shutout innings.

The next two games of the series played out in similar fashion with the Bills outscoring Chicago in both games. The second game saw the Bills take an 8-4 victory thanks to a fifth-inning jolt that saw the Bills tally six runs.

The final game of the series was put to rest with a 4-0 win for the Bills, who put one run on the board in the fourth inning and finished the game up in the eighth with three more runs.

On Wednesday, March 7, the Bills were slated to travel to Illinois to take on SIUE but were unable to play due to the weather. Instead the Bills stayed home for a three-game series beginning March 9 against Oakland. The first game gave the Bills a 9-3 win after going up 2-0 in the third inning with a single from senior shortstop Alex King, that netted him two RBIs. The third finished up 4-0 and from then on the Bills hit five more runs giving them the win.

The next day continued the series with a double header that gave the Bills a six-win streak. The first game resulted in a 6-4 win and more of the same came from the next game with an 8-0 win.

The Billikens continued their home streak with a game against SIUE that resulted in another win (5-2) that lead the Bills to a winning 8-7 record for the season.

The Bills played their last home game of the stretch against Purdue. The Bills came back with a vengeance after falling to Purdue earlier in the season 5-2. The three-game series was a Billiken sweep, taking all three games from Purdue.

The series kicked off with a double header on Saturday, March 17 that saw the Bills overpower Purdue with a 15-1 win in the first game and then an 11-9 comeback in the second. The final game of the series was completed on Sunday with a 7-3 Billiken win, giving them an 11-7 record overall and a 10-0 home record.

The Bills played a Tuesday road game against Iowa. The game stretched close back and forth with the Bills ultimately triumphing 7-6 with two home runs from King and sophomore catcher Ryan Hernandez.

The Billikens open up conference play in their next series at Saint Joseph’s with a 2:00 p.m. start on Friday, March 23.