For a game that was moved up one hour due to weather concerns, the storm came rolling in with Saint Louis ending the Panthers’ seven-game win streak in six innings.

The Billikens (24-14) put up six runs in the first inning and batted around the order.  James Morisano hit a three-run home run off of junior Brent Stephens in one pitch. Stephens then walked two of the next four batters and loaded the bases. Cole Dubet added two more runs with a single in which Dubet was the ninth batter of the inning. Aaron Case knocked in another to make the lead 6-0 going into the bottom of the first. Stephens threw a total of 46 pitches in the inning and had a total of 81.

The bottom half saw a quick inning. Saint Louis pitcher Aaron Patton threw only four pitches, retiring the Panthers first three batters. Patton went four innings only giving up two runs on two hits with two strikeouts.

Morisano hit his second home run on the day. Morisano only saw three pitches in his first two at-bats and ended his night going 3-4 with four RBIs.

In the bottom of the second, junior Dougie Parks singled and scored on a triple that from junior Andrew Curran to cut the lead 7-1. The Billikens added another run by a triple from Trent Leimkuehler. Leimkuehler scored on a wild pitch extending the lead to seven.

The Panthers (14-28) started a comeback in the fourth and fifth innings.

Junior Logan Beaman walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Beaman moved to third on a sacrifice fly from Parks. junior Matt Albert walked and redshirt sophomore Nicholas McCormick walked to load the bases. Beaman scored on a wild pitch, which also advanced the runners and cut the lead to six.

Saint Louis’ pitching had some faults to it, having the Panthers load the bases on a couple of walks and wild pitches from Garret Acton in the fifth. Redshirt Justin Smith scored on the wild pitch, then the Billikens brought in Josh Garner, who immediately hit junior Matt Albert to load the bases again. McCormick cut the lead to 3 on a two RBI single to right. Acton went two-thirds of an inning and gave up three runs off one hit and two walks. Sean Frontzak was awarded the save, his second on the season. He went one inning of hitless work.

The Panthers were in a middle of a possible comeback and potentially their eighth game in a row that they would win, but mother nature had another idea. Rain and thunderstorms came into the area. Since the game was more than five innings, the game was an official game and was called due to the storm.

Stephens got the loss for the Panthers. He went three innings of work, giving up eight hits and runs with three strikeouts and four walks. The loss puts his record to 0-3 on the season. Redshirt junior Derek Flaugher went two innings of relief, giving up one hit, and had four strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore Hunter Clark replaced Flaugher in the sixth. He went one inning of work before the game was called.

The Panthers head to Morehead State this weekend for an Ohio Valley Conference series

Tyler McCluskey can be reached at 581-2812 or at trmccluskey@eiu.edu