Walks, wild pitches, balks and errors.

These are mistakes all baseball teams try to avoid.

Saint Louis couldn’t avoid them Tuesday against Eastern.

The Panthers capitalized on SLU’s blunders on their way to a 9-1 non-conference win at Coaches Stadium.

Eastern scored four runs in the first inning on only two hits.

And the two hits didn’t even drive in runs.

Eastern centerfielder Brett Nommensen led off the game by hitting a groundball to second.

Billiken second baseman Tom Pinnell fielded the ball cleanly, but threw it away, which allowed Nommensen to reach.

Eastern second baseman Jordan Kreke lined a single into left field, and first baseman Erik Huber reached on an infield single.

Then the multitude of walks allowed by SLU starting pitcher Blake Bratcher began.

Bratcher, normally an outfielder, made his first pitching appearance of the year, walked three batters in the first inning, forcing in a run each time.

“Nothing against that pitcher, but he just wasn’t good enough to get us out with the pitches unless we swung at bad pitches out of the zone,” said Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz.

The Panthers displayed patience against Bratcher, who threw 45 pitches in the first inning. Of the 45 pitches, 24 were balls.

“He was all over the place,” said Ryan Campbell, Eastern’s third baseman who walked in his second plate appearance against Bratcher and finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. “It was kind of tough to get a feel for him if he was going to throw a strike.”

Bratcher’s defense faltered behind him also in the first inning.

Eastern shortstop Adam Varrassi hit a fly ball in the gap between left field and center field. SLU centerfielder L.J. Watson ran over to catch the ball, but the ball popped out of his glove when he attempted to make the catch.

Watson’s error brought in Eastern’s Mike Astrouski, who reached via a walk.

“Getting up early was huge because then we could kind of relax and settle in and that’s what happened today,” Campbell said.

While Bratcher struggled and only lasted 1 2/3 innings, Panther Chris Vaculik excelled.

Vaculik had struggled all year, saying he needed a productive outing to get his confidence back. He came into Tuesday’s game with a 12.75 ERA in 10 relief appearances.

But Vaculik, who made his first start of the year, was effective in his four innings of work.

The senior allowed three hits and did not give up a run. He also struck out three, did not issue a walk and lowered his ERA to 9.56.

“It’s good to get out there and do well for a change,” Vaculik said. “Previously, I’d pitch like one good inning and then the next inning I’d go out there and not do so well.”

Vaculik’s only potential opportunity for disaster was in the fourth, when SLU had runners on first and second and one out.

But Vaculik got the next two hitters out by forcing groundballs.

“I think the key was, not only the lack of walks, but also location,” Schmitz said of Vaculik’s start. “He didn’t shake me off. He just went with what we wanted to do.

None of our guys throw that hard and you better locate and he did.”

Senior Mike Budde threw the next two innings, allowing the lone Billiken run. Sophomore Brian Morrell followed Budde and only gave up one hit in his three innings of relief.

The Panthers added four more runs in the sixth, and did so again despite only having two hits.

Two SLU errors in the inning allowed Eastern to score two of its runs. The Panthers tacked on the other two via a balk by SLU reliever Eric Mueller and a wild pitch by Mueller.

Eastern gets back into action today when it travels to Terre Haute, Ind., to take on Indiana State.

Sophomore lefthander Tyler Kehrer is expected to start.

Sophomore outfielder Brett Nommensen slides into third during Tuesday afternoon’s baseball game against St. Louis University at Coaches Stadium. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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