ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Saint Louis received nine hits, five runs and six RBI from the heart of its batting order and Bradley managed just three runs as the Braves evened its record on the year at 2-2 with an 8-3 loss to the Billikens and the Billiken Sports Center Tuesday.

Bradley had seven hits on the afternoon and scraped together three runs, but Saint Louis roughed up the Braves pitching staff for seven earned runs and 14 hits. Rob Scahill suffered the loss for Bradley, falling to 0-1 on the year, as he gave up seven hits and four runs (three earned), while striking out five in five innings of work.

The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Zach Norris led off the inning with a single and came around to score on a pair of errors and groundout.

The Billikens (1-5 overall) responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run two-out double by Greg Rodgers, giving Saint Louis a 2-1 lead. Rodgers struck again in the bottom of the fifth with a run-scoring single. Saint Louis added another run in the frame on a sacrifice fly to take a 4-1 lead.

Bradley scored twice in the seventh to pull to within one run. Peter Malinowski led off the inning with a single and the Braves had runners at first and third with two outs following a Billiken error. Dan Brewer ripped a single to left field to plate Malinowski and Brad Jones followed with a single of his own that scored Norris from third base to pull Bradley to within one run at 4-3.

Saint Louis plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth with the big blow coming off the bat of Ryan Crespi. A walk and back-to-back singles plated one run and Crespi's single to right center scored two more runs to extend the Billikens lead to 7-3. Rodgers capped the scoring for the Billikens with a two-out double to left center to drive in his fourth run of the game.

Bradley returns to action Saturday when the Braves open a three-game set with Belmont. The series opens with a noon doubleheader in Nashville, Tenn., and concludes Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.