March 15, 2003

Final Stats

PRINCESS ANNE, MD. - On Saturday, March 15, in Princess Anne, Md., the Villanova baseball team dropped game one of a doubleheader to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore by the score of 4-3. The Wildcats scored three runs in the first two innings, but saw the Hawks rally with one in the third and three in the fourth en route to a one-run victory. With the loss, the `Cats fell to 1-8 overall on the season. Maryland Eastern Shore improved to 1-4 with the win.

In the first inning, junior third baseman Danny Poydenis hit a one-out triple off the wall in center field to start things off for Villanova. With two outs and Poydenis standing at third, senior right fielder Mitch Mitchell lined an RBI single through the left side to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

One inning later, Villanova added two more runs to extend its lead to 3-0. The Wildcats took advantage of two Hawk errors in the inning, leading to two unearned runs for Villanova.

After cruising through the first two innings, Wildcat starter Adrian Schau ran into trouble in the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Schau struck out Greg Cathel but a wild pitch on the third strike allowed Graylon Kitchens to score and cut the Villanova advantage to 3-1.

Maryland Eastern Shore continued to rally in the fourth. RBI singles by Joel Mahr and Bryan Barnes tied the contest at 3-3. The Hawks would take their first lead of the game, 4-3, on an RBI single through the left side by Robert Shaw.

Villanova was unable to rally in the final three innings, as Maryland Eastern Shore right-hander Leon Tilghman kept the Wildcats off-balance with a combination of off-speed pitches. Tilghman closed out the `Cats in the top of the seventh to earn his first win of the season. In seven innings, he allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits, striking out two and walking two.

Schau (0-2) took the loss for Villanova, giving up four runs on eight hits in three and two-thirds innings. He struck out six Hawks in the loss, giving him 15 strikeouts in his final two starts.

At the plate for the Wildcats in game one, Poydenis went two-for-four with a triple and a stolen base, Mitchell went two-for-three with an RBI, and senior center fielder Chris Graziano had one hit and three stolen bases.