March 16, 2002

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, PA. - On Saturday, March 16 at Richie Ashburn Field in Philadelphia, the Villanova baseball team won its seventh consecutive game, shutting out Coppin State by the score of 12-0. The Wildcats have now won 12 of their last 14 and improve to 10-6 overall on the season. The Eagles fall to 0-10 after Saturday's seven-inning loss to the `Cats.

Villanova scored one run in the first inning, to take an early one-run advantage. First baseman Rob Cafiero earned a two-out walk in the first inning for the Wildcats and advanced to third on a single to center by left fielder Adrian Schau. One batter later, third baseman Dustin Downs singled to center to score Cafiero and give Villanova a 1-0 advantage.

The game would remain that way until the bottom of the third inning. Wildcat center fielder Chris Graziano walked to start the inning, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error by Coppin State catcher Roy Mack. Second baseman Brendan Trainor brought Graziano home with Villanova's second run with an RBI single through the left side to make it 2-0. Eagles' starter Isa Abdul-Raheem walked the next two batters to load the bases for Downs. Downs grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but Trainor scored on the play to increase the Wildcat lead to 3-0.

Villanova's Brian Slocum gave Coppin State hitters no chance on this day, throwing five strong innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven.

The Wildcats broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth inning, posting seven more runs on the scoreboard to make it a 10-0 game. Villanova recorded just four hits in the inning, but took advantage of five walks by Eagle pitchers. With the score 8-0 and two outs after RBI by Downs, freshman Pete Riccio and Graziano, Cafiero drilled a two-run double down the left field line to extend the Wildcats lead to double digits at 10-0.

Villanova capped its scoring in the sixth, scoring twice more on a two-run single by sophomore Dan Farino to open up a 12-0 lead.

Freshman right-hander Mike Grodecki relieved Slocum in the sixth and pitched one scoreless inning of relief in his first collegiate action. Fellow freshman Joe McCoy came on to throw a scoreless seventh to seal the Wildcats' shutout bid.

Slocum picked up his first win of the season to improve to 1-0. With five more scoreless innings on Saturday, he now has a scoreless innings streak of 12 and two-thirds innings. Slocum bettered his team-best ERA to 1.35 in the game.

At the plate for Villanova, Cafiero went two-for-two with a double and two RBI, Trainor went one-for-two with two runs scored and an RBI, Downs went one-for-two with two RBI, and Farino went one-for-one with a pinch hit two-run single. Graziano stole his 16th base of the season on Saturday, leaving him just two stolen bases shy of tying and three steals short of breaking the Villanova career record held by Brian Fili (1994-97), who finished his career with 61 thefts.

Abdul-Raheem took the loss for Coppin State, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on four hits in four innings, striking out two and walking nine.

The Wildcats and Eagles will wind down their series on Sunday, facing off at 12:00 p.m., at Richie Ashburn Field.