May 12, 2007

Box Score

BETHESDA, Md. - The rarest play in baseball - an unassisted triple play - was the highlight on Saturday night in the second game of a doubleheader between Villanova (25-20, 10-12 Big East) and Georgetown (18-31, 6-16 Big East). The Wildcats led the game 5-2 in the top of the seventh inning when a heavy thunderstorm forced the contest to be suspended. The game will resume in its current situation on Sunday at 1 p.m. and will be followed by the day's regularly scheduled nine-inning game which will wrap up the weekend series.

Junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) made instant history in the fifth inning when he turned an unassisted triple play. The play materialized when runners at first and second broke with the pitch on a double steal attempt. The batter, Brandon Davis, swung at the 0-0 pitch and hit a line drive which Shunk caught for the first out. Both runners had gotten big jumps on the delivery and Shunk stepped on second base for the second out and tagged the runner from first to complete the play.

The seventh inning started with a solo home run off the bat of junior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) that extended the Villanova lead to 5-2. As he crossed home plate a bolt of lightning flashed above the stadium and put an immediate halt to the game. In the event that the game cannot be completed, it will go into the books as an official game. However, the NCAA halted-game rule mandates that the game be played to its completion before the beginning of the next game of the series.

After taking the opener of the doubleheader 11-6 on Saturday, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead in the nightcap when junior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, N.J.) hit a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Arcadia dropped a bunt in front of the plate to start off the inning. He was erased on a fielder's choice but Terpak picked up sophomore Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) from first base with his second home run of the day and eighth of the season.

Davis singled home a run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Villanova margin in half but junior Robert Parks (Brick, N.J.) hit his first career home run in the top of the second to make the score 3-1. The Hoyas threatened in the second and third innings and had junior starting pitcher Jordan Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) in a jam in both of those frames. However, Georgetown was limited to just one run scoring on a balk in the third inning and never got closer than 3-2.

The one-run lead seemed tenuous through the middle innings but Shunk's triple play turned all the momentum back in the Wildcats favor. Senior Jim Gillin (Broomall, Pa.) doubled and scored in the sixth inning and Arcadia hit his second home run of the year in the seventh to stretch the lead to three runs.

Ellis (3.74 ERA) had allowed two earned runs on six hits through six innings of work, walking four and striking out one. He will be in line to earn his fifth win of the season if Villanova hangs on to complete win on Sunday afternoon.

Matthew Bouchard had two hits in the game for the Hoyas. The Wildcats did all their damage off of starting pitcher Michael Gaggioli, who entered the game with a season ERA of 2.59 that ranked sixth best in the BIG EAST.

Through the end of play on Saturday, Villanova had moved into a tie for sixth place in the league standings with a 10-12 BIG EAST record. That ties the Wildcats with Notre Dame, which fell to 10-12 after being swept by Louisville on Saturday. Pending the outcome of the second game of the doubleheader, Villanova also leads Cincinnati by one game and West Virginia and Connecticut by two games.

The top eight teams in the league standings at the end of the regular season on May 19 will qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament, which will be held in Brooklyn, N.Y. from May 22-26. The Wildcats have not made the conference tournament since 1997.

NOTES: There are no official records available through Villanova, the BIG EAST Conference or the NCAA regarding triple plays at the collegiate level, especially unassisted triple plays ... However, the rarity of the play can be judged from the fact that only 13 unassisted triple plays have been turned in the 100-plus year history of Major League Baseball ... The most recent was this season on April 29 and was turned by Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies ... Eight of the 13 have been turned by a shortstop.