March 18, 2006

Box Score

Plymouth Meeting, Pa. - Villanova (8-8) used a four-run sixth inning to control the game and seal a 14-3 win over St. Francis (NY) (1-4) this afternoon on a windy and bitter day at the Villanova Ballpark. The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the `Cats.

Sophomore Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) singled to start the first inning and advanced to second after a botched run-down by the Terriers. Senior Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) bunted him to third and Arcadia scored on a ground-out by sophomore Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.).

The Terriers took the lead, 2-1, after Vincent Tepedino's triple deep into the right field corner scored Thomas Pento and Carlos Hill. St. Francis increased its lead to 3-1 on a single by Joe Romano that dropped in shallow left field.

In the bottom of the third the Wildcats started to rally. Senior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) had a sacrifice fly to center field that scored senior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) to make it 3-2, St. Francis. Then a single over the head of the St. Francis second baseman Hill by sophomore James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) scored Arcadia, and junior Frank Cirone (Arlington Heights, Ill.) singled to left center, scoring Shunk to give Villanova the lead back for good. Dolbier and Cirone's hits both came with two outs.

`Nova scored the next ten runs from there, seemingly at will. The fierce wind that blew in from left field robbed Villanova of at least two home runs. Hunt hit a towering fly ball in the bottom of the fifth that stopped and dropped in right in front of the center left field fence for a double and, at the next at bat, the wind stole a right field homer from Dolbier, whose shot was blown foul.

Villanova had 18 hits on the afternoon, including a pair of triples by Molloy, which tied a school record for triples in a game. The Wildcats were also helped along by four Terrier errors.