March 5, 2006

Box Score

BRADENTON, Fla. - Sophomore Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) and junior Andy Wendle (New London, Pa.) combined to reach base seven times and Villanova (5-4) won its third straight game in Florida with a 6-5 triumph over Holy Cross (0-1) on Sunday at Academy Park.

Senior Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to score two runs. His big hit was part of a three-run inning that opened the Wildcat lead to 5-1. Shunk had a single in the first inning that eventually set up the game's first run, and he scored on a double by senior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) in the third to break a 1-1 tie and put Villanova on top for good.

Junior reliever Nate Hall (Longmont, Colo.) pitched six innings in relief of sophomore starter Jordan Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) and the Wildcats registered a one-run victory for the second straight day. Ellis allowed an earned run on three hits while striking out three in his three-inning appearance to earn his first victory of the season. With the exception of a two-run home run by Andrew Tenaglia in the sixth inning, Hall was nearly untouched in his first four five innings of work, and cruised into the ninth with a 6-3 lead.

The Crusaders, playing their season-opener, did rally with two runs in the ninth to get within 6-5, but with the potential tying and go-ahead runners on base, Hall induced Gil Gomez into hitting a soft line drive that was caught by Hunt for the final out.

Shunk finished 2-for-3 with two walks, while Wendle had a single, double and walk to lead the Wildcat offense. Villanova had seven hits and reached base as many times via a walk. Once runners were on base, the hitters did their part to move them along in the team's station-to-station offense. The team converted on 14-of-22 (64%) opportunities in which a hitter had an opportunity to advance a runner.

Jamie Aldrich had two hits for Holy Cross and Patrick Rutherford pitched five strong innings of relief to give the Crusaders a chance to rally. Kyle Lister and Brendan Akashian each had RBI-singles in the ninth inning rally.

Villanova will have a day off on Monday before taking on Duquesne in its next game at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

NOTES: The Wildcats advanced runners on 45-of-70 (63.4%) opportunities in its first three games in Florida ... Sophomore Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) was 7-for-7 in those opportunities, while Shunk was 7-for-8 (87.5%) and Hunt was 8-for-10 (80.0%) ... Villanova's average margin of victory in its five wins is 2.6 runs ... Three of the five victories have been by one run ... The Wildcats are 14-4 in games played in Florida since Joe Godri became head coach ... Villanova has increased its team batting average and on-base percentage from .186 and .295, respectively, through six games, to .249 and .367 through nine games ... The team's starting pitchers in the last three wins have combined for a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings ... Kevin Mulvey (Parlin, N.J.) and Mike Loree (Gillette, N.J.) took the starts in Friday's and Saturday's games.