March 30, 2007

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - With the potential tying run at third base and the potential go-ahead run at first, junior Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) induced a pop-up in the infield to end a marathon game and save a 7-6 victory for Villanova (11-9, 2-2 Big East) over Seton Hall (7-13, 0-4 Big East) on Friday at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

With the Wildcats up two runs going to the ninth, Guida issued two walks to start the ninth inning and the Pirates moved the runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Casey Hines. A sacrifice fly accounted for the second out of the inning and Villanova elected to hold the runner at second base rather than try to throw out the runner at the plate to potentially end the game.

The potential tying run eventually moved to third base on a wild pitch before Guida got Dan Lopez to hit the first pitch he saw for a weak pop-up to the second baseman, ending a game that lasted over 3 ½ hours and featured 86 plate appearances and 332 pitches thrown by the two teams.

The early innings gave no indication of the frenetic ending that was to come. Junior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and senior Jim Gillin (Broomall, Pa.) each had run-scoring singles in the first inning and Terpak added a two-run single in a three-run second as Villanova took an early 5-0 lead. The five-run margin became 6-1 after three innings and 7-2 after five innings before Seton Hall started chipping away at the deficit.

John Walsh hit a solo home run in the sixth inning and another run scored on an error made that inning to make the score 7-4. The momentum in the game gradually shifted towards the Pirates when the Wildcats stranded runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Walsh had an RBI single in the seventh that made the score 7-5 and eventually chased senior starter Mike Loree (Gillette, N.J.).

In his sixth start of the season, Loree labored through 6.2 innings to improve to 5-0 on the season. He scattered eight hits while walking two and striking out a season-high six batters. He allowed just three earned runs and effectively pitched to his lead during the middle innings, twice trading runs for outs when Seton Hall got on the board.

Senior Nate Hall (Longmont, Colo.) came in with two on and two out in the seventh inning and retired the side when he got Casey Hines to pop up to the shortstop. Guida, a two-way player who started at third base for the second straight game, entered in the eighth inning and escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam with an infield fly pop-up and a strikeout to preserve what was then a 7-5 advantage.

It was a good day on both ends for Guida, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored at the plate in only his second start in the field since last April 11. Sophomore Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) walked twice, scored twice and was 1-for-2 with a stolen base. Villanova was out-hit 10-9 but drew seven walks and was hit by a pitch twice.

The early hits by the Wildcats chased Pirate starter Corey Young after he had faced just nine batters in one-plus innings. Young, who left the game after being examined by his team's coaches and athletic training staff, was charged with three hits, four earned runs and a walk in his outing. Relievers Luis Fernandez and Chris McGlynn combined to go the rest of the way, with McGlynn going 3 1/3 scoreless innings to finish out the game for Seton Hall.

Walsh had three hits, two runs scored and two RBI for the Pirates.

The second game of the series gets underway at Noon on Saturday.

NOTES: Today's game was Villanova's third nine-inning game that lasted over 3 ½ hours this season and the eighth that ran at least three hours ... With the performances by Hall and Guida out of the bullpen, Wildcat relievers have now stranded 35 of 63 (56%) inherited runners this season ... Hall has stranded 13 of 17 (77%) runners this season and Guida has stranded five of eight (63%) ... Loree moved into fourth on the school's all-time list for career innings pitched (262.1) ... He also took sole possession of eighth place on the team's career victories list (18) ... Loree could tie Nick Allen (2002-05) for seventh place with one more win and would move all the way up into a tie for third place with two more wins ... Villanova evened its conference mark at 2-2 with the win ... Last season the Wildcats did not earn their second conference win until their 10th BIG EAST game ... Guida started 18 games - including the first 15 games of the season - at third base last season and had 64 at-bats ... Today marked the third time in his career that he started in the field and also pitched ... It was the first time he had a hit and recorded a save in the same game ... The save for Guida was the seventh of his career, tying him for 10th place on the Villanova career list ... Junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning that drove in a run ... It was the 18th time in his career that Shunk batted with the bases loaded and the first time he walked to force in a run.