May 8, 2006

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior designated hitter Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) has been named the Philadelphia Diamond Five Player of the Week and freshman pitcher Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) the Pitcher of the Week, it was announced today. The pair helped the Wildcats go 3-1 last week, including a win over Temple and a critical Big East series win over Cincinnati.

Mirsky batted .706 (12-for-17) for the week with five runs batted in and three runs scored. In 20 plate appearances, he had a slugging percentage of .824 and extended his streak of at-bats without a strikeout to 28 consecutive trips to the plate. In a 13-3 win over the Owls on Wednesday, Mirsky notched the third four-hit game of his career, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Just two days later, he had another four-hit game, going 4-for-6 with a run scored against Cincinnati in a 7-6, 11-inning victory.

The win over Temple enabled Villanova to finish with seven wins in eight games this season against city rivals, while the come-from-behind victory over the Bearcats on Friday ended a 74-game losing streak in games the Wildcats trailed after eight innings. Mirsky is hitting .339 on the season and has reached base safely in 17 of his past 20 games. In addition, Mirsky leads the Big East, is second in the nation and has set a new school record with 18 sacrifice bunts this season.

Entering this past weekend, Villanova knew that it needed to take at least two of three games from Cincinnati in order to have any chance of remaining in contention for one of eight spots in the Big East Championship later in the month.

After splitting the first two games, the team faced a must-win situation on Sunday with Eidell on the mound. The right-hander, in his seventh collegiate start, pitched a season-high eight innings of six-hit ball to shut down one of the most potent lineups in the conference. Aside from a two-run home run in the fifth inning, he allowed no runners past second base and retired the final eight batters he faced. Eidell had six strikeouts on the afternoon, with three of those coming in the final six batters to face him. The Wildcats rallied from a 2-1 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth to win the game 5-2.

Eidell has pitched in 10 games this season and made a total of seven starts. In his six Big East starts he owns a 2-2 record and 3.72 ERA while averaging better than six innings per start. With his win over the Bearcats on Sunday, the Wildcats have won a Big East series in three out of the past four weekends. Villanova has not had a comparable stretch of conference success since winning three straight Big East series in 1996.

The Wildcats are currently 26-21 overall this season and have a record of 8-12 in the Big East. Although the team is currently in 10th place in the conference, Villanova is just one-half game out of the final playoff spot, as both Georgetown and University of South Florida are tied for eighth place with a record of 8-12. Only 2.5 games separate fourth place from 10th place in the league standings.