March 24, 2005

Final Stats

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - After seeing a five-game winning streak end with a 4-3 loss in the first inning of Thursday's doubleheader, Villanova (11-5-1 Overall, 1-1 Big East) started a new streak with a 3-1 win over Rutgers (10-8, 1-1 BE) in the nightcap from the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

Sophomore starter Mike Loree (Summit, N.J.) improved to 4-0 with the victory in the second game. Loree took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and allowed just an unearned run in the top of the third inning. He wound up going 7 1/3 innings, leaving with one out in the eighth after Todd Frazier blooped a single to left field to break up the no-hit bid. With 104 pitches under his belt, Loree turned the game over to relievers Ted Aust (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Mike Grodecki (Northbrook, Ill.), who combined to retire the final five batters of the game. The three Villanova pitchers teamed up to throw the fifth one-hitter in school history.

The Scarlet Knights managed their only run in the third inning, when Loree retired the first two batters on a strikeout and a line drive that was caught by the second baseman. However, the next batter reached on an error by the centerfielder, and Loree walked the next three to force home a run.

The Wildcats controlled the game from then on, as Loree retired 14 of the next 15 batters before being chased by Frazier's single. Villanova evened the score in the bottom of the fourth and took the lead with another tally in the fifth. An insurance run in the seventh accounted for the final margin.

Junior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) and senior Alan Day (Lake Ridge, Va.) led off the home fourth inning with walks, and freshman Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) singled to load the bases. Senior Mark Cardillo (Naples, Fla.) grounded into a double play, but Hunt scored on the play to tie the game. In the fifth inning, freshman Ryan Arcadia (Boyertown, Pa.) reached on an error leading off the inning when the Rutgers pitcher fielded his bunt and threw wildly to first base. Arcadia went to second on the play, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. Senior Angelo Petracca (Sanford, Fla.) hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the third run.

Shunk was 2-for-3 in the second game, while junior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Petracca singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. He also had two hits in the opening game to extend his career-best streak.

In the first game of the day, Shunk singled home a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Villanova a 2-1 advantage headed to the final frame. However, the Scarlet Knights scored three times in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead, and the Wildcats' one-run rally in the bottom half left them one short. Pinch hitter Ryan Hill singled to tie the game at 2-2, and Todd Frazier followed with a single to give Rutgers the lead. However, it was heads-up base running by the Scarlet Knights' leadoff hitter that allowed the eventual winning run to score. Frazier stole second with one out, and then watched Jeff Grose hit a fly ball to deep center field. Molloy tracked down the ball and made a basket catch with his back to the infield, and Frazier raced all the way home from second to spot the visitors a 4-2 lead.

Villanova had no intentions of going quietly in their half of the seventh, as Molloy reached on a dropped fly ball to begin the inning. One out later, freshman James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) singled to right field and Petracca followed with a base hit up the middle that scored Molloy and sent Dolbier to third. After an infield fly accounted for the second out, Rutgers pitched around Day to load the bases. Scarlet Knights reliever Sean Spicer then ended the game with a strikeout, recording his second win of the season.

Senior starter Nick Allen (Green Lane, Pa.) was charged with his first loss of the season for Villanova. He threw his second complete game of the season, allowing six hits and four runs (three earned). Allen walked two, struck out six and generated eight ground ball outs.

Petracca was 2-for-3 in the game, scoring two of Villanova's runs and driving in the third. He reached on an infield hit in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak.

Villanova is scheduled to play Connecticut in another conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The first game is slated to begin at Noon. If inclement weather threatens either or both of Saturday's games, the quickest way to get updates on game conditions is to call the Villanova scoring hotline for information. The hotline number is 888-400-NOVA, and it will be updated on Saturday morning with the status of the games.

NOTES: Although the 3-1 score in the second game was close, it ended a streak of four straight games between the teams that had been decided by one run ... The Wildcats played a three-game series at Rutgers to wrap up the 2004 season, and swept the Scarlet Knights by winning three straight one-run games ... The last one-hitter at Villanova was also a team effort, as Larry Kingsbury and David Herr turned the trick against Georgetown on Apr. 16, 1992 ... There have been seven no-hitters in school history, including a seven-inning no-no thrown by Allen earlier this season (Feb. 26 vs. Norfolk State) ... Petracca leads the Wildcats with a .394 average (26-for-66) this season ... Aust recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning in game two to stretch his scoreless innings streak to 15.0 innings ... He lowered his team-best ERA to 0.47 for the season ... Grodecki's save in the second game was his fourth of the season, double his career total coming into the season ... Through its first 17 games of the season, Villanova has a .303 team batting average and a 2.94 team ERA.