Villanova University

March 15, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) had three hits and drove in four runs but Villanova (7-7) allowed eight runs in the bottom of the third inning and fell 14-6 to La Salle (3-11) on Wednesday afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field. The Wildcats were playing for the first time this season against one of their Diamond Five rivals from Philadelphia.

Molloy doubled home two runs with two out in the second inning to give Villanova a 2-0 lead, but the Explorers then poured on nine unanswered runs to take control of the game. La Salle got on the board with one run in the bottom of the second and then had three two-run singles in the eight-run third inning.

Molloy was up again in the fourth and singled home two more runs to get the Wildcats within 9-4, but the Explorers once again put the game out of reach with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to in front 13-4. Two final runs for Villanova in the top of the seventh closed the scoring, and darkness forced the game to be stopped after the top of the eighth inning.

Despite the loss, the Wildcats still managed to have eight of its nine starters reach base at least once, and produced a total of 16 runners on seven hits, eight walks and one hit batsman. Molloy was 3-for-3 on the day and freshman Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) went 2-for-2. In his first career start, freshman catcher Wes Borden (State College, Pa.) drew three walks and scored a run.

La Salle had 13 hits for the game, including at least one from each of its starters. Rich Prall had two hits and drove in four runs, while Mike Essery was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three driven in. Relief pitcher John Reifsnyder worked two scoreless innings to record the victory.

Sophomore Ryan Wendler (Conshohocken, Pa.) was charged with the loss for the Wildcats after pitching two-plus innings. Relievers Ryan Shockley (Seaford, Del.), Kyle Carver (Aldan, Pa.) and Bill Hoffman (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) combined to pitch the final three innings without allowing any earned runs.

On tap for this weekend is the Villanova Baseball Bash, which includes local teams Saint Joseph's and Temple in addition to visitors Long Island, St. Francis (N.Y.) and St. Peter's. The tournament consists of a round-robin schedule, with the Wildcats facing each of the three visiting teams once. The first game will be against St. Peter's on Friday at 3:00 p.m. at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

NOTES: Current forecasts for Friday afternoon show a chance of mixed precipitation ... Should there be any changes to the Wildcats game schedule this weekend, updates will be available first on the Villanova scoring hotline (888-400-NOVA) as well as on the Internet at www.villanova.com ... Sophomore Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) was 1-for-3 in today's game to extend his team-best hitting streak to eight games ... Shunk is batting .346 on the season ... With two hits today, Rosati is now batting .364 (4-for-11) on the season ... Senior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) was 0-for-4 and saw his streak of eight straight games with an RBI come to an end ... In its last three games, Villanova has surrendered 25 runs in the game's first three innings ... The 16 runners in today's game increased the team's on-base percentage to .395 for the season ... 42 percent of the team's base runners on the season have reached via a walk or hit by pitch.