March 4, 2003

Final Stats

WILSON, N.C. - On Tuesday, March 4, at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, N.C., the Villanova baseball team lost a heartbreaker to North Carolina State, 4-2, despite a tremendous performance by junior Adrian Schau on the mound. Schau struck out a career-high nine batters in seven and two-thirds strong innings for the `Cats, who fell to 1-7 on the season with the loss. The Wolfpack improved to 8-4 with the victory.

In the bottom of the first inning, NC State capitalized on a Villanova error to score the game's first run. Wolfpack left fielder Matt Camp led off the inning with a dribbler out in front of the mound. He reached first on an infield hit but Schau threw the ball past first baseman Freddie Thon allowing Camp to advance to second. Camp stole third base and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly to center by designated hitter Justin Riley.

State would add another run in the second inning, as catcher Colt Morton hit Schau's first pitch of the inning over the left field wall for a solo home run. Morton's fifth homer of the season extended the Wolfpack's lead to 2-0.

After allowing two runs through the first two innings, Schau settles down and began to dominate. He struck out five batters over the first four innings to keep NC State intact.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Villanova offense awoke as the Wildcats scored two runs to tie the game at 2-2. Center fielder Chris Graziano singled hard up the middle to begin the fourth and advanced to second on a sac bunt by third baseman Danny Poydenis. Schau followed the Poydenis' sacrifice with a single up the middle to score Graziano and cut the Wolfpack lead to 2-1. Schau, who went to second on the throw to the plate, scored one batter later on a double to right-center by freshman first baseman Freddie Thon. The hit and RBI was the first of Thon's collegiate career and tied the contest up at 2-2.

Schau cruised through the first seven innings, striking out nine batters. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he got the first two State batters to fly to center. With two outs, Schau hit right fielder Joe Gaetti on a 3-2 pitch and walked the next batter to put runners at first and second with two outs. Left-hander Mike Ciccotelli came on in relief of Schau and allowed an RBI single to pinch hitter Tim Coffield which gave NC State the lead once again at 3-2. One batter later, Morton hit a ground ball to shortstop, which Brian Trotta fielded and threw just wide to Ryan Crammer at first base. Crammer made the tough stretch to get the runner by a step, but the umpire called Crammer's foot off the bag allowing Riley to score to increase the Wolfpack's lead to 4-2.

The Wildcats had chances in each of the final two innings, but NC State reliever Joey Devine (2-0) closed the door on the `Cats with two strong innings to pick up the win as the Wolfpack held on for the 4-2 win.

Schau (0-1) got the loss despite a magnificent performance on the mound. In seven and two-thirds innings, he allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits, walking one and striking out a career-high nine.

At the plate for the Wildcats, Schau went two-for-four with one RBI. In addition, Poydenis was two-for-three, Thon was one-for-two with a double and an RBI, and Trotta was two-for-three.

For NC State, Morton was one-for-four with a home run and an RBI.

Villanova was scheduled to get back into action this weekend hosting the Philadelphia Classic Tournament on March 7-9, but the tournament was cancelled due to weather and field conditions. The next scheduled contest for the `Cats is on March 11, when Villanova heads to La Salle to take on the Explorers at 3:00 p.m.