April 23, 2006

Box Score

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - In the final game of a weekend series, Villanova (20-18, 5-9 Big East) nearly rallied from an early four-run deficit but ultimately fell to Seton Hall (13-25, 5-13) 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field. The Wildcats wound up taking two of the three games in the series, and moved up one spot to ninth place in the Big East standings.

The Pirates jumped on top in the early innings as freshman starter Corey Young quieted Villanova's bats. Matt Walsh had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a two-run home run as part of a three-run third inning that gave Seton Hall a 5-1 lead.

Freshman starter Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) settled down after the third inning, however, and the Wildcats gradually worked their way back into the game. Senior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) hit a sacrifice fly and classmate Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) doubled home a run in the fifth inning to make the score 5-3, and senior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) smacked his league-high 12th home run of the season in the sixth inning to pull Villanova to within one run.

The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning but could not find a way to tie the game. Sophomore Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) walked with one out in the inning and Hunt drew another walk to put two runners on. Junior Frank Cirone (Arlington Heights, Ill.) then hit a smashing line drive along the third base line, and third baseman Mike Morano snared the ball on one hop to get a force out. The two remaining runners moved up to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch and junior Andy Wendle (New London, Pa.) walked to load the bases. However, Pirate reliever Tim Dexter entered the game and induced a fly out to left-center field on his first pitch. He stayed in the game and earned his third save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Eidell worked into the eighth inning and finished with nine hits allowed in 7.1 innings. He walked just one and struck out four, allowing just four batters to reach base against him after the third inning. Sophomore Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) got the final two outs of the eighth inning to allow Villanova a chance in the ninth.

At the start of the game, Young struck out four of the eight batters he retired in a row to start the game, but Molloy bunted for a single with two out in the third inning and eventually came around to score. Sophomore Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) reached when a slow groundball in the infield was misplayed, and Mirsky singled home Molloy with the first Wildcat run.

Mirsky finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, while Hunt and Molloy each had a run scored and one driven in. Freshman Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Villanova managed just five hits in the series finale after getting 22 in the first two games, but did reach base nine other times via a walk, hit batsman or fielding error.

Brandon Cohen had three hits and Dan Lopez scored two runs for Seton Hall, while Young was credited with his third win of the season. He pitched five-plus innings and was reached for five hits and four runs. Mark Irwin pitched 2.2 innings of hitless relief with three walks and three strikeouts before turning the game over to Dexter.

Villanova returns home for two midweek games against Philadelphia Diamond Five rivals Temple and Saint Joseph's. Those games will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. both days. Next week's conference matchup will be a road trip to West Virginia for a three-game series Friday through Sunday.

NOTES: Earlier in the day, the Wildcats rallied past Seton Hall 11-6 in the continuation of a game started on Saturday ... The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Wildcats, who had also won four straight league games ... The winning streak was the longest of the season for Villanova ... Hunt hit two home runs in the series and batted .556 (5-for-9) with five runs, five RBI, six walks, a .733 on-base percentage and a 1.122 slugging percentage ... Arcadia batted .455 (5-for-11), scored seven runs and stole three bases on the weekend.